


Control

by UAs_Fics



Category: South Park
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, WIP Big Bang, super hero AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-11 04:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15307467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UAs_Fics/pseuds/UAs_Fics
Summary: Wonder Tweek abruptly breaks up with Super Craig, leaving him angry and heartbroken, so Mysterion takes it on himself to take Craig out for a night on the town to forget his woes. But when Wonder Tweek shows up that night wrecking the town, Craig has to push his heart ache aside and figure out what made hisboyfriendex-boyfriend go rogue.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was finished as part of the [ WipBigBang!](https://wipbigbang.tumblr.com) It had been sitting on quoll writer for the part few months with less than a chapter done, but I decided to finish it for this! :)

* * *

Super Craig was pissed. He wasn't just upset. He wasn't just frustrated. He wasn't just heartbroken. He. Was. PISSED.

Five years. That asshole threw away five years of both their lives without another word! He didn't try to talk to Super Craig. He didn't try to offer an explanation. Tweek just fucking up and left. 

A new flare of rage filled Super Craig. With a scream, he slung his fist forward against the punching bag. The thick metal chain snapped from the force of the impact and the bag went flying. It slammed against the wall, leaving a sizable dent in the concerte. 

Super Craig stomped over and grabbed the bag. He threw the hundred pound bag over his shoulder before he deposited it with the other three he had already broken. Tupperware would scold him for breaking the equipment like that, but Super Craig couldn't care less. It was either the punching bags in the specially built training room or that asshole's face, one or the other.

"You know, other people like to use those punching bags." 

Super Craig scowled at the shadows in the corner of the room. 

"Fuck off, Mysterion." He growled, throwing open the door, nearly wrenching it from the hinges.

"And a good evening to you too--or, good morning. It's after midnight." Mysterion stepped from the shadows with his arms crossed lazily over his chest. Midnight, so Super Craig had been at this for nearly five hours. Five hours, and he still felt like complete shit. 

Super Craig grabbed the last punching bag from the storage room and headed back over. He set it against the wall before hauling the stool back over. As he stepped up to unlatch the remaining chain, he heard footsteps come near him. Mysterion watched, silently, as Super Craig hung up the replacement punching bag. 

The brutalist kicked the stool aside before moving into his fighting stance. When he started to punch and kick, Mysterion walked around him, eyeing him. It was so annoying. He didn't give two fucks if someone watched him train, but this wasn't training. This was stress management. He didn't need anyone else pestering him.

Super Craig stopped suddenly and spun around to snap at Mysterion to leave. Before he could speak, Mysterion cut him off.

"Do you want to train against something that can fight back?" He asked, falling into his own fighting stance. 

"No." Super Craig replied flatly. "Just go away."

Mysterion's lips curled up in a sneer. "What's wrong? Chicken? Pure punching power is pretty useless against---" 

Super Craig swung, narrowly missing Mysterion's chin by inches. Mysterion back flipped and slid across the training room floor.

"That's more like it. Come at me!" 

At this point, Super Craig was so irritated and pissed off, he wasn't planning any attacks. Instead he just kept lunging and punching at Mysterion. He was going to wipe that shit-eating smirk off his face the second he caught him. 

If he caught him. 

After about five minutes of flailing about, exhaustion over took him and Super Craig fell forward, panting. 

That wasn't even a real sparring match. Mysterion never tried to attack back. He dodged and ducked, but never once swung. The closest thing he had done to actual retaliation was sticking his foot out and tripping Super Craig midway through. 

"Fuck...you..." Super Craig wheezed, glaring hard.

Mysterion bounced on his toes. "Is that really all you got? Super Craig, I would expect better from you."

"I repeat, fuck you," Super Craig snapped. 

Today was officially in the top ten of the worst days of his life. At this point, he just wanted to go home and sleep--but he couldn't go home since that asshole might be there and...

Super Craig sighed. 

He still felt pissed, but it was quieting down, and the pain was slowly taking its place.

"Hey, are you doing alright?" Mysterion asked, bending down. He was still far enough away that if a sudden surge of energy over took Super Craig, he would have time to dive to the side, but still close enough that Super Craig could see the worry in his blue eyes.

"It doesn't concern you." Super Craig grumbled. 

"We're part of a team, Tucker. If something’s wrong, it's my job to help." Mysterion cautiously reached his hand out. He took a few small steps closer and place it on his shoulder. Super Craig shrugged him off.

"Don't use my real name, dick." He muttered. "Just leave me alone. I've dealt with break ups before; I'm not a teenager."

"Break up---oh my God." Mysterion whispered. "Didn't see that coming." Super Craig glowered, and Mysterion continued on quickly, "I'm sorry. I know how that feels."

"Do you?" Super Craig snarled. "Do you really? Do you honestly know how it feels to have the person you've loved for five years take your heart and smash it then run away? Especially when some many fucking people look up to your relationship as some kind of fucking pride beacon? Do you really know how that feels?"

Mysterion didn't flinch. Instead he fell to his bottom and rested his chin on his knees. 

"I guess I don't know then. I avoid long relationships. Immortal's burden, mayflies, and all that." Mysterion stated in a deadpan. "I do know that a night on the town with friends always makes me feel better when I've had to break it off with someone, though." The normally dark hero flashed a grin at Super Craig and held out his hand. "So, how about it? Friday night, I know a bar with some cute waitress--err, waiters. There is a concert I have tickets to, too. A rock show. Wouldn't that be more fun than brooding?"

"What? Think I'll be encroaching on your title?" Craig countered, slapping his hand down. There was no malice in his jab, however. He heaved a sigh. "You know what? Fine. Friday night."

* * *

Craig leaned against a lamp post. He ended up wearing an old shirt and jacket he had left at the Freedom Pals base. Going back home to get some of his good clothes was too much of a gamble. He wasn't sure he could control his urge not to yell and scream if he ended up coming face to face with that heartbreaker. He gritted his teeth, pushing that asshole's face away from his mind. No, tonight was not for that jerk. Tonight was to party and rock out and forget the pain in his heart--and, maybe, get laid out of pure spite.

"Hey there, mister man," A cheerful voice said, "how much you charging?"

Craig whipped his head towards the owner of the voice. A man about his age with golden hair and an orange windbreaker stepped into the light from the lamp post. A goofy grin crossed his face.

"More than you could afford, I'm sure." Craig snapped, grabbing his backpack with his costume in it, just in case. The man blinked once then chuckled to himself. He took his hands from his pockets and held them up in a settle down gesture.

"Tone down the crabby attitude, SC. You can't have a fun night with a stick up your ass." The man paused then added, "Well, I guess it depends on the stick, doesn't it?" 

Craig's eyes widen. SC, Super Craig. His mouth gaped open a moment. A knowing smile crept across the man's features as he watched the realization dawn. 

"Mysterion?" 

"Out of the hood, it's Kenny." He stepped close and slung his arm around Craig's shoulder. 

Craig eyed his face. He had only seen Mysterion without his hood and mask one time in all the years they had known each other. They had been fighting some one-off, knife-themed villain. The Shredder-wannabe had slice and diced their clothes to the point they both had to replace their entire outfits. They had just captured and knocked out the villain when Mysterion turned just the right way and his hood and mask fell to ribbons around his shoulders.

But that time had been years ago, and only for a few seconds before Mysterion hastily swore Super Craig to secrecy and bolted from the scene.

"You have freckles." Craig commented absentmindedly. 

"Yeah, you have a mole on your neck. Skin does stuff like that sometimes." Kenny teased. "Now, come on, the concert isn't for another few hours, so let's go have some fun."

* * *

Craig scrunched up his face as Kenny presented the bar to him.

"I guess you didn't get the memo, but," Craig jabbed his thumb at the Raisin's sign, "I don't like tits."

Kenny laughed and slapped his back. "There are some men working here, too. Besides, they have killer wings." Kenny started for the door. He paused and looked back at Craig. Craig rolled his eyes before following. At least he didn't have to worry about bumping into that asshole here.

Some sort of oldies rock song poured out of the building as Kenny opened the door. The lighting was dim and had an orange tint to it. Sports posters and TVs playing said sports lined the walls. The waitress' eyes light up when Kenny waved at her.

"Oh my Gosh! Kenny!" She ran forward and threw her arms around his shoulders. She wasn't wearing a bra, Craig noted, not hiding the disgust on his face.

"Hey, there, Porsche! Long time no see." Kenny grinned, hugging her back.

"And whose fault is that? You never come to see us anymore. I was starting to worry you got yourself a girlfriend or something," Porsche teased. 

"I would only ever date a girl if she was willing to come here to enjoy the view with me." Kenny released her and took a step back. He gestured to Craig. "So, could my friend and I get a booth and an order of wings?

Porsche's eyes brighten. Her grin morphed from a genuine one to a fake one used on customers. "For this cutie? Anything!" She grabbed two menus from behind the counter then lead them through the crowd to a booth in the corner, farthest from the TV wall. The only person around the booth was a waitress cleaning up the booth next to it.

Kenny slipped in to the booth, spreading his arms out over the back of the plastic seats and leaning back. As Craig slipped into booth as well, Porsche ran her fingers on his forearm. Craig shuddered and turn to glare, but a kick to his shin made him throw his glare towards Kenny instead.

Porsche slid the menus across the table. "Can I get you two cuties something to drink?"

"You know my order," Kenny said. "Bring on the beer."

Craig picked up the menu as he muttered, "Water." 

Porsche's customer smile wavered for a moment before she nodded. "I'll be right back, sweeties." She winked at Craig before leaving to get their drinks.

Kenny frowned. "The band we're going to isn't one you need to be sober to appreciate. Besides, the venue is close enough to walk to. No need to play DD tonight, but thanks for thinking of my mortality."

Craig ran his finger down the dinner orders. "I don't drink."

"'Don't'?" Kenny echoed. "Not to pry, but why? Medical or something?"

"That is prying, and I can drink, if I want. I just don't get to enjoy being drunk for more than half an hour before I'm sober again. My powers fucked up that train a long time ago." Craig leered over the menu at him. "Besides, Tweek can't control his powers when he's--fuck." Craig gritted his teeth hard enough to hurt his jaw. 

"True, no one drinks beer for the taste," Kenny laughed, ignoring Craig's slip. He leaned forward, dropping his arms. "That really sucks, dude. Some of the best times I've ever had, I was fucking wasted." He paused then said, "Or I'm told they're the best times. I can't remember most of them." He chortled at his own joke.

"So," Kenny continued, "is it just alcohol, or does weed and stuff not do it for you, either?" 

"That's not a very heroic topic."

"I'm not a hero. I'm just a regular guy." Kenny stated matter-of-factly. "I guess I could tell you some of my stories if you don't have any. Spoilers though, I die in at least half of them." 

Now that got the smallest of upwards lip twitch from Craig. Taking that as encouragement, Kenny launched into a story from when he was a teenager, drunk off his ass, and trying to steal a cop car with some friends. The key word there being 'trying.' About half way through the story, Porsche returned with their drinks and to take their orders. 

Craig gently tapped her arm. "Could I also get a beer with this?" 

"Of course, cutie. Just flash me that ID of yours." Alexa smiled at him, a little more genuine than last time.

As she left with their orders, Kenny doubled over, nearly slapping the table with one hand and covering his face with the other. "I have never scaled a fence so fast in my entire life as when that cop was chasing me. The worst part was, I was almost home free. If I could climb back through my window, I know my brother would vouch for me being there all night, but just as I was jay walking across the street, this goddamn truck comes and fucking nails me." He sliced the air above the table with his hand. "Didn't get arrested and as far as all my friends know, I made it home scotch fucking free--but I never got those pants back."

Craig snorted an almost laugh. "Wow, dude. What happened to the horse?"

Kenny laughed. "No clue." He then scooted out of the booth. "Gotta take a leak, chat with some of my friends here, be back." 

As Kenny walked to the restroom, Craig sipped his drink. It was nearly empty. He hated to admit it, but he was feeling a little better not sulking around the base and destroying punching bags. 

"Hey, you."

Craig looked up from his drink. A man he'd never met stood idly next to the table. His face was bored and looked older than he probably was, His hair was dark and messy, too, though not as messy as---

"What?" Craig deadpanned. 

"You're Craig?" The man asked. His accent was thick, but not thick enough Craig couldn't understand him.

"Who's asking?"

"Christophe." The man, Christophe, replied. He sat down against the table. Craig sent his hardest glare at Christophe, who completely ignored it, opting instead to pull a sucker from his pocket. Craig almost had to admit he was impressed with that level of aloofness.

"Kenny sent me." Christophe stated as he unwrapped the sucker. "Something about you needed a rebound."

Craig rolled his eyes. "I don't need a rebound. I need some wings and a beer."

"My shift is over." Christophe put the sucker in his mouth. He moved it around so the stick stuck out the side of his lips. Craig furrowed his brows. He just then took notice of the Raisin's logo across the man's black shirt. 

"You work here?" 

"Life, she is a bitch. And debts don't pay themselves off." 

Craig shrugged, eyeing Christophe closer. He couldn't say he didn't find the waiter unattractive. The lines in his face made him look more grizzled than old, his arms were toned, and Craig could see how a girl might find his aloof expression enticing. Hell, he was starting to find it enticing too. He chalked that last through up to the beer.

"Yeah, she really is, isn't she?" Craig raised his empty glass in agreement. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm not looking for that right now. I just want some time away from it all. If you're done with your shift and want to go, then go."

Christophe rolled the sucker to the other side of his mouth. "My ride is flirting at the bar. Asshole." 

Craig hummed to himself. "I have a friend like that. More dick than brains. It's gotten us into trouble before." He decided not to mention that that trouble had been at another Raisin's a little outside of town.

" _Non_." Christophe shook his head. "Gregory has the brains. It's the ego."

"I have a..." Craig scrunched up his nose at the thought of that raccoon-themed hero, "well, not a friend, but I know someone like that too, but he doesn't have the brains. He's a complete dipshit."

"Having brains does not stop one from being a dipshit." The corner of Christophe's mouth flicked upwards just a fraction. He bit down suddenly and tore the sucker from his mouth. The candy was completely gone. He shoved it into his pocket before fishing out another while he chewed. 

"Never pick up smoking," He stated, unwrapping the sucker. "The habit is a bitch to fucking kick."

Craig chuckled. "My boyfriend use to--fuck!" He nearly shouted the last word and earned himself a few glances from some nearby tables. He flipped them all off before correcting himself, "My _ex_ -boyfriend use to be a smoker. He quit around the time we first moved in together."

"He seems like the kind of man to make poor life decisions, then." Christophe pressed the wrapper flat against the table, soothing the edges out. "So, how do you know Kenny?" Christophe nodded towards the bar. Kenny leaned against it, his arm around the waist of one of the waitresses and chatting with the bartender.

"Um, coworkers." Craig replied. He hoped Christophe didn't ask him what their 'job' was. Unlike Craig, who lived solely off of being a hero, Kenny did have a day job he worked at. For the life of him, however, Craig couldn't remember what it was. A welder, engineer, or maybe it was as a cage fighter? 

Christophe raised his thick eyebrow. "There are coworkers in vigilantism?" At Craig's surprise expression, Christophe stated, "I have been working with you heroes for a long ass time. I know the signs."

Before Craig could reply to his cryptic comment, Kenny strolled back over. "Hey, Christophe.  
Gregory said he's done with his shift." Kenny jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the bartender. With a grin, he turned towards Craig. "Enjoying talking to one of my favorite informants here?" 

"'Informants'?" Craig echoed as the pieces fell into place. He had never been the kind of hero to use informants, since almost all his enemies he could defeat with brute force alone, but he knew plenty of the other heroes used them. 

Christophe shrugged, jumping off the table. The wrapper he had flatten fluttered off to the ground. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper then shoved it into Kenny's hand. He turned and nodded to Craig. 

"I must go." He held out his hand to Craig, who took it. "You are a good man. I can tell. Call me if you need help finding dirt on anyone." 

As Christophe left, Kenny slip back into the booth, reading the paper. He nodded to himself before pocketing it.

"'Informant'." Craig repeated. "That man, who works at fucking Raisin’s, is your informant?"

"He and Gregory." Kenny replied. "You probably know them better as ‘The Mole’ and ‘The Rose.’" 

Craig wracked his brain a moment. He did know the names, but he couldn't remember the context he had heard the names used. 

"They're both very good at getting information, in very different ways." Kenny chuckled to himself. "But that's neither here nor there, ‘cause we got wings." He seemed to hop in his seat as Porsche slipped a plate of hot wings down. She set a beer in front of Craig.

"On the house," She smiled in a way Craig knew Kenny must have told her about his break up. Craig pushed the annoyed feeling in his stomach aside and forced himself to smile back. Porsche jumped a little at this, before regaining her composure and smiling back.

* * *

There had been three rumors Craig had heard about raisins. One, that the women were hot and flirty. Two, that ESPN was always on somewhere. Three, that the wings were the best in the whole city. 

As he pushed back the plate of bones, he checked off number three the rumor list. Working backward, he looked around and quickly found a sports commentary with the ESPN logo in the corner. Check two. For the first rumor, which was the one Clyde always like to bring up, he leaned forward, interrupting whatever story Kenny was telling this time.

"In your straight opinion, are the girls here hot?" He asked.

"What?" Kenny blinked. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "Um, yeah? The girls here are smoking, even you should be able to tell that." Craig nodded, about to explain when Kenny commented, "Also, I am not straight. Pan, dude. I don't really care what's going on down there." 

Craig blinked. "You're not. But Mysterion--"

"--Is really handsome, from what I've heard." Kenny cut in. "And I'm sure really packing under all that purple, but he's not my type. Too brooding."

Craig frowned. When he came out, the topic of sexualities somehow got brought up a lot when he was around. He knew some of the other heroes weren't straight, but he knew for certain when asked, Mysterion had bluntly stated he liked girls only.

"But, you said..." Craig trailed off.

Kenny mimicked Craig's frown. He looked around to make sure no one was listening before leaning forward, his voice dropping down just in case. "Craig, this may surprise you, but almost everyone acts differently out of the suit. Most of us, me especially, don't want our two lives mixing more than they have to. You and Wond--well, you are the exception to the rule, not the norm." 

Craig wasn't going to argue that. Super Craig and Craig were effectively the same person, personality and thought process wise. The only difference being the mask he covered his face with--which itself was a addition he added when he started to hit puberty. The mask wasn't even meant to hide his identity at the time, but more to hide the stupid acne that like to blossom around his forehead. 

"Oh." Craig muttered. "So Mysterion is straight, but you're not?"

"As far as the media and anyone who might try to figure out Mysterion’s civilian name knows, yes. Mysterion is straight as a ruler."

"My God. This is a fucking date, isn't it?" Craig accused.

Kenny held up his hands. "I'm not going to say you're _not_ my type, but no. Not a date. I am not willing to risk putting myself on Tweek's shit list." He winced when he realized he had just said the 'T' word. Kenny open his mouth to apologize when Craig raised his hand, silencing him.

Craig took a deep breath, held it for a few heartbeats, then let it out through his nose. He repeated this two more times then finally spoke.

"You know, it's not that he broke up with me that I was--am--upset about. It's that he didn't tell me why." Craig chose his words carefully. He could explain it all to himself easily, but he wasn't sure how his thought process sounded to an outsider. "He didn't even let me get a word in edgewise. Just said he wasn't happy anymore and didn't want to see me and that I shouldn't try to talk to him then flew off like the coward asshole he is."

Kenny pursed his lips then shook his head. "I heard something about Tweek 'taking a break' from our work a few days ago, but honestly that, and upping and leaving you...it doesn't really sound like the Tweek I know--and this certainly doesn't sound like the Tweek-Craig dynamic I've seen between you two these last few years. Even during the hero civil war you knew each others reasons for staying or going."

"Yeah, that's what's pissing me off. If he wasn't happy, he needed to tell me. If I fucked up, why didn't he tell me? He knows he can talk to me about anything! He rejected all my calls, and I couldn't even find him at any of his normal haunts, and I was too--" He ran a hand through his hair "--fuck, I was too scared to go home since he might be there and I might lose my temper and make it worse." Craig groaned and dropped his head to the table. "At this point I don't know if I want him _back_ or to _never_ see him again."

His head spun, and it was all Tweek Tweak's fault! Old him, the him before he started dating Tweek, would have just brushed this off. Stuffed the pain down with anger and drink like there was no tomorrow to drive Tweek from his mind. Old him would hook up with the first available guy and make a vague post about it just so he could get Tweek to react to it. 

But old Craig was gone. Tweek had made sure of that through pure osmosis alone. After five years, Craig had picked up his habit of letting his emotions start to come out of his mouth when it all got too much. Usually that too much only ever happened _around_ Tweek, though.

Craig balled his fists in his hair only to feel a dry laugh well up in his chest. Hair grabbing was a habit of Tweek's. A habit that always annoyed Craig to no end, but here he was, doing it too.

"Dammit. Damn him." Craig growled. 

A warm hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed. Craig glanced up. Kenny looked down at him with sympathy in his eyes.

"I've always thought you two were probably the closest thing to soul mates this shitty life could ever offer." Kenny smiled softly. "I know you two are bound together by something stronger than circumstance." 

"What are you babbling about?" Craig narrowed his eyes.

Kenny took a breath. "I dunno, man. It was one thing when I thought you two just had a bad fight or something, but hearing that he didn't try to break it off amiably is just making me... well, something seems fishy to me."

"Kenny, don't." Craig sighed. "Just don't. It'll take the entire rest of the night, a pitcher or two of beer, and maybe some fine ass to chat up but I'll learn to accept he doesn't want to be with me anymore."

Kenny scanned Craig's face carefully. Craig suppressed a shudder. He knew Mysterion's eyes when they were searching for something, cold, sharp, precise. Kenny's gaze was the same, but somehow different. It was more sympathetic than cold and more probing than sharp. 

After a moment, Kenny looked away. He shrugged. "Alright. If that's what you want, I'll help you out with the pitcher of beer, and, the _fiiiine_ ass if you want." He chuckled then made a ridiculous kiss face towards Craig.

Craig rolled his eyes. Even if he had been genuine in his request for a one night stand, he'd seen that ass in skin tight spandex before. It really wasn't something to write home about. The prospect of free beer, however, Craig didn't pass up.

A while later, and more alcohol than Craig had had in quite some time, Kenny and Craig had made their way to the bar. Craig watched from the side as Kenny flirted shamelessly with both the bouncer and the waitress at the same time. 

Craig looked down into his drink. He wasn't sure what it was, just that it was bright green with a cherry and salt around the rim of the martini glass. The bartender had just shoved it towards him with an encouraging smile. Given the groans and mad scientist jokes from her coworkers, Craig could only assume the drink was some sort of experiment and that she did things like this often. 

Craig didn't complain though, since as far as he could figure, it was free. 

"You know, my truck has plenty of room for three," Kenny was saying as he snaked an arm around the bouncer's. "Whaddya say? When's your shift over, big guy?"

As the bouncer laughed and pulled his arm away from Kenny, Craig stirred his drink in thought.

He couldn't remember actually having to try to win Tweek's affection with flirting. Not that he didn't still slip in a flirtatious comment just to tease Tweek or remind him how cute he thought he was. Oh no, on the contrary, he laid that kind of stuff on heavy. The second he got permission to publicly call Tweek 'honey,' it was all over for any subtly he might have been holding on to. But Craig never really had to try to win Tweek over.

Looking back on it all, Craig couldn't keep in his sigh. In fact, it was almost like a perfectly natural progression. Tweek found out Craig was gay thanks to a slip up from Clyde, and not three hours later, Tweek clumsily offered to buy Craig dinner. They had already been heroic partners for a couple of years before, so neither of them found it a hard jump from that to romantic partners. A completely natural progression, like rain falling to earth.

Craig set his straw aside and downed half the drink in one gulp. He instantly regretted it. It tasted bitter and sour with a too heavy overtone of mint. He swallowed then stuck his tongue out. If the bartender noticed, she didn't say anything as Craig pushed the drink away. 

He and Tweek were so happy, or at least he was. Where had it gone wrong?

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he glanced back over at Kenny. The bouncer had left, as had the waitress. Kenny slumped over his drink, a disappointed look across his features. Craig scooted over a few seats.

"Strike out?" He asked.

Kenny propped his arm on the bar, resting his chin in his palm. "I swear my batting average is better than this." Kenny pulled his phone from his pocket and looked down at it. "The concert is going to start soon. We should get walking." He called towards Porsche and made a check sign in the air towards her.

Craig pursed his lips and glanced to the side a moment. He put his arm out and said, "Hey, actually, were those tickets expensive?"

"They were free. The lead singer is a friend." Kenny replied.

"Then, would they care if you didn't go?" Craig asked slowly. 

"Nope," Kenny shook his head. "Timmy would understand. Why? Do you have another plan for the night?"

"No. Just don't want to be shoved around by a thousand screaming people."

Kenny scratched at his cheek. His nails were uneven. Craig wondered if some of them had been chipped or broken during fights or if Kenny had done it himself. 

"What do you wanna do then?"

Craig shrugged. "Dunno, dude. Can we just, walk around? Enjoy the city?"

Kenny wiggled his eyebrows. "Are you sure _you're_ not the one taking _me_ on a date, Mr. Tucker?"

Craig shoved his shoulder playfully. Unfortunately, he miss judged how much force he used and pushed Kenny right off his stool. The usually graceful hero blinked a few times from his place on the floor. His lips twitched up before a laugh bubbled out of him. 

The tension in Craig's shoulders relaxed as he pushed off his own stool to help him up. 

Kenny leaned close against Craig. His breath smelled of beer and barbecue as it hit across Craig's face. "I didn't think it was that bad of a joke." 

Before Craig could reply, a rumble shook the building.

"The fuck is that? Thunder?" the bartender braced herself against the bar, eyes wide. Some of the nearby waitresses started to stumble, and Kenny coiled an arm around them, barely stopping all of them from falling.

Just as quickly as it started, the rumbling stopped. Kenny stepped away from the girls, asking if they were alright. As one of them began to thank him, something crashed through the front of the Raisin’s. Instinctually, Craig jumped to his feet and stood with his arms out, shielding the Raisin’s girls and Kenny from impact.

The body hit Craig square in the chest, sending him flying into the back wall. 

Dust filled the air and his lungs. Over the sound of his coughing, he heard Kenny yell that he would help Craig and for the remaining girls and customers to get away. Splitters dug themselves into his back when his shirt rode up from the impact as he pushed whatever had crashed into him away. 

"Ooooo, ouch..." A familiar voice groaned. Captain Diabetes blinked up at the ceiling. His hair stuck out in all directions. Thin cuts peppered across his bare arms and face. A nasty purple and red bruise began to grow on his exposed stomach.

"Scott!" Craig scrambled to towards his fellow hero. He hovered his hands over him, unsure. Super Craig was an offensive fighter. The closest thing to a healing move he had was the space-themed band aids he kept in his back pocket during fights.

Captain Diabetes groaned in pain before turning to Craig. He furrowed his brow a moment before the tension in his body slipped away. 

"Thank God! You'll be able to talk him down!" Captain Diabetes smiled. Kenny jumped over the overturned table, landing gracefully next to Craig.

"Holy shit, who did this to you?" Kenny gasped, kneeling down. "You need a hospital, Scott!"

"W-Wonder Tweek," Captain Diabetes coughed. A few droplets of blood splattered onto his shirt.

"Wonder Tweek," he repeated. "He's gone rogue. He broke into the museum. Pass and I were sent to--" A round of hard coughing cut him off. Panting, he quickly finished, "He's not responding to anyone, and he's not stopping." Kenny bit his lip as Scott moaned in pain, resting back against the cool floor. 

"You take a rest, dude." Kenny told him, his voice dropping into Mysterion's gravelly tone. "Craig--"

Before Kenny could stop him, Craig was up and leaping through the gaping hole in the store's front.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Super Craig sees Wonder Tweek and repercussions ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness! The support for this was just amazing! =D Thank you to everyone who commented, kudoed, subscribed, and so on! I hope I don't disappoint with this chapter!
> 
> Also this chapter does mention a form of self harm, but the action is never shown or described. Just a heads up.

Craig made a beeline for Kenny's truck, where he had left his bag and superhero uniform. When he had tossed his bag into the back seat, Craig had hoped he wouldn't need to pull out his uniform at all tonight. The only reason he even brought it with him was out of habit. Most heroes kept their uniform close by, just in case bullshit like this went down.

Just has he wrenched open the door, setting the alarm off and reached inside for his super suit, a whizz of yellow zipped by. The wind from the speedster rattled the truck moments before sharpen icicles punctured the roof, narrowly missing Craig in the back seat.

"I think you're the one who needs to ch-ch-chill out more than me, thank you very much." Fastpass snickered, zipping to dodge another ice attack. He paused a beat, resting his weight against his crutches. Like Captain Diabetes before, his face and arms were covered in thin cuts. Even the goggles across his face were cracked. His chest heaved, and one of his metal crutches had a slight bend in it.

Unlike Captain Diabetes, however, Fastpass wasn't someone who could take many hits. Without Captain Diabetes to shield the blow, he was getting beaten just as fast as his speed. Craig would have to jump in, or Fastpass was a goner.

Throwing his jacket over his shirt and his mask on, Craig scrambled out of the truck. He looked back at it with a wince. The door barely hung on, the alarm rang out, and now there were holes in the roof. He hoped Kenny had good insurance.

Another attack and Craig’s muscles involuntarily tense before forcing himself to turn towards the attacker. Craig's heart stop dead in his chest. 

Everything about Tweek was _wrong._

His hair stood out in more of a mess than usual, completely untamed. He didn't have any shoes on, not even the triple knotted sneakers he wore to run around the house in. He had on parts of his Wonder Tweek costume, but parts of it were missing or not properly on. The thick insulating gloves that protected him from any push back from his powers were absent from his hands, leaving him completely exposed to any side effects. His mask, a mirror of Craig's own, looked hastily put on and ripped. Finally, peeking out from the unzipped jacket of his Wonder Tweek uniform, Craig saw something very familiar.

"Is that my NASA shirt?" Craig found himself saying.

The second the words escaped his mouth, the chaos around silenced for a fraction of a second as Tweek swung his head towards the owner of the voice.

Tweek's eyes glowed with energy as they burrowed in to Craig, completely obscuring the eyes Craig had woken up next to for the past few years. His face was blank of expression. Craig swallowed the lump that began to form in his throat and grabbed tighter to the anger in his chest instead. 

He was _mad_ at Tweek. Tweek broke his heart as a lover. Tweek broke his trust as a superhero. Tweek was a Goddamn dick and a half, and Craig was going to punch him in the face for it all!

Craig took a step forward. His hands balled into fists. He barely set his foot back down when Tweek pounced.

He dove at Craig. His fingers dug into Craig's arm, leaving Craig swearing at himself for helping Tweek get over his nail biting habit. Craig tried to hold his ground, heels grinding into the concerte, but his reflexes were still off from the drinks. Without exerting too much effort, Wonder Tweek knocked them both back, slamming right into the side of Kenny's truck and down to the ground.

Wonder Tweek was, by his own admission, a 'soft boy'. He stayed out of the front lines, instead attacking from a distance, while Craig stood proudly out front, kicking ass directly. That was part of what made the two an amazing crime-fighting duo, both feared by criminals and loved by the public. But now, Tweek gave Craig a run for his money in pure strength.

Craig glared up at Tweek. Tweek did not glare back. Even with the glow, his eyes seemed unfocused, like he was staring at something that he wasn't sure was there. 

As he struggled against Tweek's hold, Craig began to realized two things: Tweek was hurt, and that it wasn't from this fight. 

The marks on his exposed arms weren't from FastPass or Captain Diabetes' attacks. They were marks Craig had first seen on Tweek a few months after they first partnered up, when Craig finally fully earned his partner's trust: Claw marks from fingernails digging into the soft flesh of his arms and along his cheek and jawline and bite marks along his hands and forearms. 

All at once, angry, heartbroken Craig faded, and protective boyfriend Craig took over.

"Tweek?" Craig asked gently. "Honey, what's wrong?" If he had one hand free, he would have rested it against Tweek's cheek. Soft, physical touches like that did wonders in calming Tweek down.

Tweek's eyes focused on Craig then. For a fraction of a second, he winced before a neutral expression returned. Tweek pressed down harder against Craig's arm. Ice began to build around his hands. Behind Tweek, a storm cloud swirled into existence. Lightning tore through the clouds above. 

Supreme Lightning, on it's own, wasn't a very powerful attack, but this time, Craig had a gut feeling it would be different. 

"Tweek, honey, come on," Craig frowned, trying to keep the pleading out of his voice, "Stop this, sweetie. Tell me what's wrong. I'm here for you, babe. We're partners. We're boyfriends. Just ... let's head home and talk this out. Please." He tacked on the ‘please’ as an afterthought. He prayed it would get through to Tweek before his attack struck down on them both.

"Tweek, honey, please." He tried again, softer than ever.

Something splashed against Craig's face. A pang hit in his stomach as he watched more tears fall from Tweek's blank face. Tweek's grip loosened just enough for Craig to free his arms. The ice crackled as he pulled his wrists away. Tweek held his hands flat against the concerte of the parking lot, as if he hadn’t notice. Craig reached up and took Tweek's face in his palms.

"Do you want to go home? We'll make some cakes or something. You wanted to try Ms. Jonson's carrot cake recipe out, didn't you? I think we have everything." Craig offered, trying to pull Tweek's face closer. He hadn't decided if he would go for a kiss or just pull Tweek to his chest and hold him tight. Either would work.

He brushed his thumb across his cheek as he wiped away a tear. Tweek began to shake. For the first time in nearly three days, Craig heard his boyfriend's voice.

"I'm so sorry."

A clash of thunder roared over head and suddenly, everything went white.

* * *

He had been staring out from under his eyelashes for the past four minutes. His gaze wandered over Tweek's chest. His lips curled up at the hickies he saw there before he looked down along Tweek's arms, eyeing the tan line on his forearms. 

Craig shuffled under the blanket to try and get a better look at his boyfriend when Tweek finally noticed he was awake. Tweek jumped. His teeth clenched down on the cigarette in his mouth. Craig smirked, pulling the pillow closer to himself. 

"I thought smoking after sex was only something they did in the movies." Craig chuckled.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'll put it out right now!" Tweek twisted around and searched the side table for something to grind the cigarette out on. 

"No, don't." Craig pushed himself up on his elbows. "As long as Stripe's not in the room, I don't care."

The tension in Tweek's shoulders faded. He turned slowly back before letting out a breath and slumping down against the pillows. Craig reached out and brushed his fingers against Tweek's side. He let out a single breathy laugh through his nose. A bruise the size of his palm had bloomed just above Tweek's hips.

Tweek flinched at the contact. 

"Sorry, honey. I'll be more careful next time." Craig promised.

"Don't be!" Tweek shook his head. "I mean, I don't mind! No-no one is going to see them anyway!" He took a drag then blew the smoke off the side of the bed. Craig watched a moment before rolling to his side with his head still propped up on his hand. He reached up and made a gimme motion with his fingers.

Tweek raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you smoke?" He asked, but handed the cigarette away anyway. "Ack, be careful, dude--"

But it was too late, Craig had put the cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply, probably too deeply. He gagged, coughing out puffs of smoke. Tweek rubbed against Craig's back with one hand and took the cigarette back in the other.

Craig blinked away the tears that formed from his smoke-induced sputtering. Between coughs, he muttered, "Was easier...in middle...school."

Tweek smiled sympathetically. "It's an acquired taste."

Craig shook his head. He hauled himself up to his knees, taking deep breaths of clean air. Tweek slipped the cigarette back between his lips for a moment. He took a final drag then reached in front of Craig to the small table on the opposite side for the discarded Coke can there. He dropped the cigarette inside.

When Tweek went to pull back, Craig grabbed his wrist. He pulled the arm close and pressed his lips against his skin.

"C-Craig?" Tweek shuddered. 

"You told me once you smoked because it calms you down and kept your powers in check." Craig mumbled against his wrist. "You also told me you use to hurt your arms for the same reason, keeping your power in check." He pressed a kiss against one of the faded half crescents from a self inflicted bite mark of years past. 

"Y-yeah?" Tweek swallowed. "I use to. I haven't hurt myself in a while though. Not since..." He trailed off, looking away. Craig raised his eyebrows for him to go on. With a breath, Tweek finished, "since we teamed up, actually. You, err, you really have been a big help to me, Craig. Believing in me and shit."

He tried to play it cool, but even half hiding himself behind Tweek's hand, didn't stop the red from creeping up his cheeks. Seeing his blush made Tweek's own face heat up.

"Oh. Yeah. Super Craig is the best at believing in people." Craig nodded. He kissed the other half of the crescent.

"No, really, Craig, you have." Tweek pulled his hand away then slipped both his hands behind Craig's head. He looked down into his boyfriend's eyes. Craig could see the exact spot where the blue in Tweek's iris turned to a sunny yellow. He really liked Tweek's eyes. They were beautiful.

Tweek rested his forehead against Craig’s. "No one believed in or, nng, supported me like you do. Not even my parents. They didn't even think I had powers for more than a year and a half after I got them! Never once did they think I would have so much control over them, like I do now. Hell, I didn't think I'd have this much control over them! But you, you really did think I could do it."

Craig shrugged. He didn't think Tweek could do it. He knew Tweek could do it. He always did.

He knew Tweek was powerful. He knew the second Tweek hit him in the chest with an icicle spear and nearly knocked him back when they were teenagers. He knew how hard Tweek tried. Only someone with zero brain cells wouldn't know Tweek could do anything he set his mind too.

Craig had always thought it was unfortunate Tweek had surrounded himself with so many brainless people growing up.

"I'll believe in you, so believe in me, ok?" Craig set his hands on Tweek's hips, careful of the bruises. 

Tweek smiled softly before pressing a kiss against the side of Craig's mouth. He breathed against Craig's skin. His breath smelled like tobacco, but Craig ignored it, focusing on the underlying coffee smell that continually clung to Tweek instead. Tweek's hands slid down to Craig shoulders, and Craig let himself be pushed down.

Tweek held himself up with his left arm as his right hand cradled Craig's cheek. Craig leaned into the warm touch, shutting his eyes. Tweek was always so warm. Whether that was from his powers or something that was just naturally Tweek, Craig didn't know, nor did he really care.

"Oh, Craig," Tweek whispered, "I'm so sorry. It's just not working out. I’m not happy."

Craig's eyes flew open. Tweek looked down at him in a deadpan. A storm raged all around them. Craig tried to open his mouth, plead with Tweek for an explanation, but his jaw refused to move. He was fixed, staring into Tweek's scratched up face. His instincts screamed for him to run, to fight, to do something, but his body refused to obey.

"I'm sorry," Tweek repeated. Though he was right above Craig, his voice sounded far away and fading. 

Finally, Craig forced a word out of his lips, "Why?"

* * *

Craig bolted upright in bed, painting. He held his hand to his chest. Something pulled at his skin. Craig looked down to see an IV attached to his arm. A heart rate monitor filled the room with a frantic beeping. Craig blinked, causing a few tears to roll down his face, before looking around.

He knew this room. This white room with pictures of the human body along the walls and rolling tables with basic medical equipment was one of the treatment rooms at Freedom Pals’ base. 

Craig relaxed and leaned back against the sheets. The beeping quieted down to a normal rate.

The fuck just happened? 

Craig racked his brain. He was out with someone, a short blond, with freckles, and they were drinking, then something happened--no, that's not right. They went somewhere after drinking, but where? A concert? Craig could vaguely remember rock music at some point.

He shook his head. No, he had to focus on the facts he knew. He knew he was in the treatment ward. He knew he was hooked up to medical equipment. If he was taken here, instead of to a general hospital, then whatever hurt him must have been hero related.

The door clicked open then, and Craig turned his gaze. 

The doctor came in. Craig knew her more in passing than personally. Before merging into Freedom Pals, she had been part of Call Girl's Women's Association of Spies, WAS. Along with Clyde's girlfriend Bebe and Call Girl, the doctor had been a founding member. Nowadays she spent much of her time patching up superheroes as well as her own teammates.

Doctor Daniels jumped when she noticed Craig staring at her. She let out a sigh after a moment then she walked in. She held open the door, and Tupperware hurried in. 

"Craig!" Tupperware nearly ran across the room. "Thank God!" His hands hovered over Craig unsure before he gently patted Craig's shoulder. 

"I'm pleased to see you're awake," Doctor Daniels picked up the chart off the end of the bed. "That was a nasty shock. It would have killed a normal person. Goes to show you really are super."

"'Shock'?" Craig echoed. "The fuck happened? I stick a fork in an electric plug or something?"

Tupperware and Doctor Daniels exchanged knowing looks, but didn't say anything. 

"Super Craig," Doctor Daniel started after a moment, "Do you...let me check some of your vitals." She took the stethoscope off from around her neck and held out the clipboard to Tupperware. Tupperware took the board then stepped back. Pressing the cold end of the device to Craig's back, she ordered him to breathe in, then out, then in, then out before nodding. She told some numbers to Tupperware, who jotted them down. Doctor Daniels then took Craig's temperature and his blood pressure and had Tupperware write down the numbers as well. Craig wondered if Tupperware was so eager to help her because he cared about him, or because of the crush he had on her.

"Well, your vitals are high for a normal person, but that's normal for you." She told him. 

"Yeah, ok, so what happened to me?" Craig asked. 

Tupperware handed the clipboard to Doctor Daniels. He took a breath before he spoke. "Craig, what do you remember? Do you remember going out with Mysterion?"

"I was on a mission with Mysterion?" Craig frowned. Being the bulky tank he was, usually Super Craig was paired with a support hero or a hero that attacked from a distance. Mysterion was front line.

"No, um, Kenny? You went out with Kenny, Mysterion's civilian ID? Do you remember that?" A worried look passed over Tupperware's face.

Craig's mouth formed an o-shape in realization. The freckled blond, that was Mysterion, that was Kenny. He nodded slowly. 

"Yeah. He took me to Raisin’s because...oh God." 

The color drained from Craig's face as his memory sharpened. The break up with Tweek, drinking at Raisins, Captain Diabetes smashing through the window, running out, and--

"Where's Tweek?" 

Neither Tupperware nor Doctor Daniels looked him in the eyes.

"Where is Tweek? Where is my boyfriend?" Craig demanded. 

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Doctor Daniels whispered, "We don't know."

"The fuck do you mean you don't know?! Where is he? What happened to him? Is Tweek hurt? Did Fastpass stop him after he knocked me out? Tell me!" Craig was livid now. The heart rate monitor began to increase its beeping. It was the only one giving any answers, which pissed Craig off even more.

Tupperware held his arm out in front of Doctor Daniels. "Nichole, you should go. Go tell Doctor Timothy and the others that Craig's awake." 

Doctor Daniels' eyes shifted between Tupperware and Craig before she nodded slowly and backed towards the door. 

"I'll be back in a few minutes." She said. "Please, don't do anything rash." Her gaze lingered on Craig a moment longer before she shuffled out of the door. Dread welled up in Craig's stomach. Tupperware would have only send Doctor Daniels out if he knew whatever he was going to say might set Craig off. 

"What happened." Worry started to seep into Craig's voice.

"Craig, Wonder Tweek went rogue." Tupperware’s voice was deadly calm, like he'd practiced this before. "He nearly destroyed a museum the night he attacked you. We don't know why. All we know is the day before he told Doctor Timothy over a phone call he was giving up on being a superhero."

"No," Craig shook his head. He somewhat remembered Kenny mentioning that as well. "Tweek would never give up being a hero. Tweek is all about love and justice and all that _shoujo_ magical girl shit."

"We know." Tupperware crossed his arms. "We know. That's why we think Tweek isn't doing this out of his own volition."

"You think he's being controlled?" Asked Craig.

A nod. "Yes. We don't know by whom, but someone is making him attack the city almost daily. It's all we can do to keep innocents out of harm's way."

Craig threw off his blankets. He took the heart monitor from his finger and dropped it aside. The monitor flat lined. As he grabbed for the IV, Tupperware put a hand on his wrist, holding him in place.

"Let me go. I need to help Tweek." Craig narrowed his eyes. 

"You can't, Craig." Tupperware gripped harder. "You can't get anywhere near Tweek until this is all over."

"Why the fuck not?" Craig shouted. "He's my boyfriend! It's my responsibility to make sure he's ok! I'm not letting some asshat use him like this!" 

Craig tore his wrist from Tupperware’s grasp. He grabbed the taped on cotton patch that held the needle in his veins and began to pull, only for his hand to freeze. He gritted his teeth as his body stiffly moved to place the heart monitor back on his finger. The blanket floated back up over his legs before it tucked Craig tightly in.

A voice in his head said, _"I'm sorry, Super Craig, but this is one mission you'll need to sit out."_

Craig glowered as he regained control of his body.

Doctor Daniels rolled Doctor Timothy in. She parked the wheelchair near the bed, though not near enough that Craig could easily reach without tearing out the IV. Tupperware let out a sigh of relief at his back up. Doctor Timothy frowned sympathetically at Craig. 

"It's too dangerous for you to be a part of Tweek's capture," he told Craig.

"What? Do you think I'll let him go or something? Just because I love him doesn't mean I can't take him down!" Craig flipped the Freedom Pals leader off. 

Did Doctor Timothy not remember the civil war? Craig kicked Tweek's ass two different times with no mercy for their relationship. Craig was logical. He could easily take his feelings out of the equation and just kick ass if he needed too.

Doctor Timothy sighed. He laced his fingers together before he explained, "It's because you love him that we can't allow you out there with him." Doctor Timothy looked to Tupperware then Doctor Daniels then finally rested his gaze on Craig. "We believe who ever has Wonder Tweek under their control might be doing so by manipulating his power source."

Craig shook his head slightly as the information sunk in. "What? No. How..."

"We don't know." Doctor Daniels said. "All we know is the closer Wonder Tweek got to you, the more powerful he became. He was nearly unstoppable when you two were in the same place."

Tupperware glance to the side. "If not for Mysterion dragging him off of you and back out into the street, a lot of people could have been hurt."

Craig’s mouth felt dry as he asked in a hushed voice, "What happened then?"

Doctor Timothy rolled his chair closer then set a hand on Craig's knee. "Mysterion ended up using his ultimate. Though not able to defeat him, he inflicted enough damage that Wonder Tweek was forced to retreat."

Craig swallowed the lump forming in this throat. His head was spinning too much for all this. Between the two of them, Tweek was more of a hero than Craig. He truly did wholehearted believe in the ideals of love and justice. Some bastard out there was corrupting those ideals and Tweek's emotions for their own gain, and there was nothing Craig could do to help. 

Craig held his face in his hands. Everything was falling apart, and he just had to stand a watch.

"Doctor Daniels," Doctor Timothy rolled back. Doctor Daniels nodded and the two made their way to the door. Just before she opened the door, Craig looked up. 

"Wait," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Is Ken...never mind. Doc, could...could I see the mission file, at least? Maybe there is something there that I'll see that no one else would."

Doctor Timothy smiled softly and nodded. He told him he would have it sent over later. After the doctors left, Craig turned to Tupperware.

"Token, could you do me a favor?" 

"Yeah, man, whatcha need?"

"Stripe. He's in my room. Could you get him for me? I..." Craig glanced away, "I really need him right now."

Tupperware nodded. "Of course, dude. Just, don't tell Nichole."

* * *

The clock ticked by slowly as Toolshed rested his chin in his hands. He tapped his pen against the paperwork he was suppose to be filling out.The medical ward was dark, save for a few buzzing lights over head and the light that came from under the door to Super Craig's room. After a moment, he groaned and leaned back in the chair. He was tired as hell. He had already worked a full shift at the veterinary clinic and then was put on night duty here to keep an eye on Super Craig. 

Toolshed glanced at the clock on the desk. 11:40. It was about that time. He stood and popped his back before walking around the desk. He pulled out his phone, and started scrolling through his contacts. When he finally came across the one he needed, he pressed the call button.

Toolshed didn't bother putting the phone to his ear as a familiar buzzing came from the shadows at the end of the hall. He waited as a figure waltzed out of the darkness.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. What took so long?" Toolshed greeted, grabbing for Mysterion's hand. He pulled his fellow hero into a half hug before stepping back.

"Stupid curse rules are stupid. Also, you're great grandfather says 'hello' and 'hurry up with that Wendy girl.'" Mysterion replied casually, as if he wasn't talking about his last seventy-two hours spent in limbo. 

Toolshed fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah, well, tell him Wendy doesn't want kids yet, and even when she does, we're not naming them after him."

Mysterion put his hand to his forehead in faux shock. "What a terrible great grandson you are. Why I bet when he was your age, he and his lady lovely had popped out at least twelve youngin's. And he didn't even have someone helping him like you have with Kyle!" Mysterion's eyes sparkled as he wrapped an arm around ToolShed's shoulders. "Failing the family name, Stanley."

"Fuck you, Kenny." Toolshed laughed, pushing him off. His laugh puttered out into a sigh. He turned down the other hallway. His eyes lingered on Craig's door.

Mysterion frowned. "How is he?"

"Pouring over the mission files like a mad man when I checked on him an hour ago. He's frustrated he can't do anything to help."

Mysterion pursed his lips. He let out a breath through his nose. "I see." 

Toolshed nodded down the hall. "You can probably go talk to him. Lord knows he needs some company. He's been talking to his guinea pig every time I've walked by."

* * *

While Mysterion kept his cool on the outside, on the inside he was a mess. Guilt pulled at his stomach. He shouldn't have taken Craig out to help him get over Tweek. He should have just patted his back in the training room then left him alone. He shouldn't have used his ultimate and knocked himself out of the world of the living for three days, leaving himself useless to his team.

He grinned grimly at himself. All those should have's made him sound just like Captain Hindsight. Mysterion briefly wondered what ever happened to that hero. He hadn't seen or heard anything about him in years. Not since the DP oil spill many years back. 

Mysterion should his head clear. He didn't have time for that. 

Steeling himself, he knocked on the door. He waited a moment before Craig's nasally voice told him to come in.

Papers were strewn around the hospital bed. The desk that once sat along the wall had been put near the bed and one of Stripe's travel cages set atop it, though the rodent was noticeably absent from the cage. Instead he slept on Craig's lap as Craig ran a hand absentmindedly over his fur. 

Craig himself looked worse for the wear. His eyes had deep bags under them. His hair was an absolute mess. He had his cell phone pressed to his ear. Mysterion silently shut the door behind him and waited with his back against it.

"--stop whining over me. You're not Mom, Trisha!" Craig grumbled. He flipped off the air as he listened. "Hell yeah, I'm flipping you off! When did you become such a worrywart....?" Craig sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't worry, sis. Tweek will be back to normal in no time, and you can keep sending us those wedding venue coupons because you don't know the word 'subtlety'...uh-huh, love you, too. Talk to you soon." With a tap, he ended the call.

"Sisters, amirite?" He asked Mysterion with a wry smile.

"Can't relate." Mysterion replied. "My sister doesn't know who I am."

Craig raised his eyebrow, about to comment, but stopped. He shrugged and tossed the phone next to his thigh before going back to the papers around him. Mysterion idled by the door a moment before finally walking towards the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

Craig shrugged in reply. "Tired. Kind of wish 'Shed would come in with some pills wrapped in bologna or something."

"I'm sorry." Mysterion offered, more to ease the guilt in his own mind than comfort Craig. He was sure he'd gotten plenty of that from the other members of their team.

Mysterion picked up one of the scattered papers that had fallen to the floor. "Have you found anything?"

Craig sighed noisily. "No. Nothing that hasn't already been mentioned in the notes somewhere." He ran a hand through his hair. "He's targeting museums and theatres and concert halls, but as far as I can tell, he's not stealing anything. Just trashing the place. And he only attacks at night for an hour or so, then makes a rain or snow storm so heavy no one can chase after him."

"Maybe he doesn't want people hurt?" Mysterion suggested.

"He doesn't seem to care about that, or the person controlling him doesn't seem to care anyway. He attacked a museum that was having a midnight showing of one of it's space exhibits." Craig’s shoulders slumped. "Tweek took me to that when the museum did it last year, actually. It was fun. They showed the Milky Way on the ceiling with a projector and pointed out all the constellations." A fond smile crossed his lips before a frown quickly took its place.

Mysterion pursed his lips, then spoke carefully. "If you ever need to talk about this, I'm here for you, dude. I know the feeling of having someone you love possessed and being used." He felt a twinge of rage grab his stomach at the memory of the vampire cult's attempts to turn his little sister into one of the undead. Mysterion rested a hand on Craig's knee after pushing the anger away.

"Thanks," Craig said after a while, "not just for this, but, ya know, offing yourself to save people. I know you really don't like doing that."

Mysterion shrugged. That was true enough. In all honesty, he didn't like dying period. While he could stand it slightly more when he gained some control of his cursed immortality, it still hurt like hell to be blown apart by his own c4, and he still hated the wait time he had to endure when his body was blown into tiny pieces. 

The hero didn't say any of that, however. Instead he pulled his cloak tighter around himself, pushing the feeling of his body exploding out of his mind.

"It's nothing. I wish I didn't have to do it."

Shuffling some papers around, Craig picked one up. "From what I'm reading, you didn't have a choice. Jimmy was next to out, Scott and I _were_ out, and the closest ally was Doctor Timothy, who couldn't get away from his friends." Craig offered up the paper, but Mysterion shook his head. He already knew all of that. He was there, after all.

"How are Scott and Jimmy, by the way?" Mysterion asked. "This was the only light on around."

Craig shuffled a few papers around as he spoke. "They're both alright. They didn't want to risk the heal serum fucking up my heart, so they didn't use it on me. Apparently both Scott and Jimmy had to take it straight, though." 

A shudder ran up Mysterion's spine. That heal serum was strong, it sped up the body's natural processes to fix up most broken bones and wounds well enough to make it to an actual doctor. The only problem was it tasted like absolute ass. Nobody took it orally without having it mixed into some sort of food or drink if they didn't have to.

Craig picked up a paper, then set it aside. He groaned in frustration. Mysterion had to wonder how long he had been searching for some small clue among all the data and reports. Probably since the moment he had woken up. Even if there was something there, Mysterion doubted Craig would be able to find it in the stressed out state he was in now.

"Craig," Mysterion let out a low breath, "we never did get that walk around. Do you want to do it tomorrow? Stretch your legs? Just around the grounds a little--if Nichole will let you."

Craig looked at the papers around him, then at Stripe, then back at Mysterion. He hesitated, weighing his options, before slowly nodding.

"She couldn't stop me if she wanted to."

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Superhero AU Mysterion Lore, I've decided works like the in game battle and he doesn't need to always be literally reborn to come back. 
> 
> The next chapter will be posted on the 26th, this Thursday! See you then!
> 
> [ My writing Tumblr.](uas-fics.tumblr.com)   
> [ My general art Tumblr.](uas-art.tumblr.com)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Craig has a good time and finally gets some answers--but not at the same time.

Craig blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight. The first time in four days he'd seen the sun, and he already regretted it. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he wandered along the stone path towards the small pond behind the base.

The base was originally a mansion owned by Tupperware's family. It had been transformed into the Superhero base it was now during the Hero Civil War, when Freedom Pals first formed and needed a place to set up. After nearly seven years, the mansion had grown even bigger, adding more rooms for new heroes and the WAS agents, training areas, and test labs for the Gadgeteer class heroes to try out their inventions. It was impressive really what a gaggle of determined teenagers could do, when given the funds.

Craig paused to look over the pond. It was small, with some sort of water plant covering the surface all around the edges. A statue of a lion sat stoically in the middle. Water poured from its open mouth. A smile crept onto Craig's face as he recalled a memory from the Civil War. It had been right after Freedom Pals made their debut on the hero scene. In an act of pure petty response, the heroes from Coon and Friends broken in and glued a dildo onto the lion and leaving a nasty note to their former teammates.

He remembered how they were nearly caught by their heroic rivals and had to make a beeline for the trees before, tripping and pushing each other in their escape. Looking back, he guessed he should be thankful that Freedom Pals didn't press charges against them for vandalism.

Craig made a note to himself to ask if any one from the C&F side had any pictures of the prank as he stepped up to the bench alongside the pond.

Kenny reclined on the bench, his hood pulled over his eyes. He bobbed his head, mumbling to himself a song Craig didn't know. Craig watched a moment before tapping Kenny on the knee. Kenny pulled his hood back. A wide smile spread on his face. He swung his legs down and patted the seat next to him.

Craig took it, stretching his legs out. His feet almost touched the water. Not that that surprised him. Long legs were a family trait. He had them. His sister had them. His father had them. If he ever had a biological child, that poor kid would probably have to suffer with them, too. The only advantage he ever found was that it made his lap bigger with plenty of room for Stripe or Tweek--or better yet, both.

Kenny tapped his fingers against the bench a moment, watching the breeze push against surface of the pond. He then leaned towards Craig, staring at his face.

Craig twisted his head and met his eyes. "What?"

"Just staring." He grinned. 

"You're a freak," Craig pushed his face away, "seriously a freak."

"Says the man who gets his power from love and a space rat." Kenny laughed. "At least my curse comes from something that sounds cool."

"There is nothing cooler than being granted super-strength, love powers by a space _guinea pig_." Craig countered. "Nothing. seriously nine-year-old me nearly shit his pants when Stripe told him he was getting super powers."

Kenny raised an eyebrow. "Given that nine year old _me_ was still trying to figure out why God hated him so much, I guess you're right about that. Guinea pig love powers are cooler." Kenny leaned back, staring up at the clouds, before he continued. "So, Stripe can talk? I can't say I've ever heard him make more than those little pip-squeak noises. Does he only talk to you or can only you understand him?"

Craig smiled at the change to one of his favorite subjects. "Only I can understand him, but he doesn't talk to me anymore, not like he did when I was little."

"What changed? Did you stop believing in magic, Craig?" Kenny teased.

"I've never really believed in magic." Craig stated. "But to answer your question, talking to me tired him out a lot. I think he only did it because I was just a kid, ya know? It made this whole superpower thing easier to understand."

"So he doesn't talk to you anymore?" Kenny frowned. "That sucks, dude."

Craig shook his head. His bangs brushed his eyes. "No, no, he does; it's just not like how we used to talk. It's more..." He screwed up his face in thought. "It's a feeling. When I touch him, I can just tell what he wants anymore. We're that close." He hooked his pointer fingers together with a proud smile.

Kenny hummed, tapping his fingers against his stomach. After a moment, he said, "You know, for a long time, I was really jealous of your powers."

This time, it was Craig's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Seriously?" He asked.

Kenny nodded. "Uh-huh. I first heard of Super Craig on the news one day. 'Another Super Powered Child fighting crime in the streets: is this new child a friend or foe?' it said. I missed the bus just so I could watch that report." He spread out his hands in front of him. "I watched everyday for news on you. I thought being super strong was way more useful than fucked up immortality that no one even remembered. Especially when at the time, the only other kid heroes around were the Coon and Mint Berry Crunch." 

He laughed. "I was really hoping that you and me could team up actually. Since Mint Berry avoided me, and the Coon's always been an asshole, you were my best option."

"Huh." Craig turned towards the pond. "If we're speaking honestly, I was scared of you."

Kenny nearly jumped off the bench in surprise. "What? Legit?"

"Dude, even before the police acknowledged you existed, there were playground rumors that you made a deal with the devil and ripped a man's spine from his back to suck out the spinal cord. The whole cowl and brooding didn't help either." Craig explained. "I kind of tried to be a day-time hero for a few months just to avoid meeting you. I bet Mint Berry did the same thing." 

Kenny shook his head. An amused smile on his lips. "Let's be honest, tabloids still print those same rumors about me even now." He let out a low whistle. "Wow, though, the great and powerful Super Craig was scared of a scrawny ass, poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks."

"A scrawny ass, poor kid who beat the living daylights out of a super villain on live television." Craig shook his head. "A super villain that even had Captain Hindsight beaten! That just cemented Mysterion as utterly terrifying."

Craig remembered that program clear as day. A villain had hijacked the TV station and broadcasted his evil plan to destroy City Hall across the city. Craig was in school at the time. and everyone crowded around the TV in the corner of the classroom. Even the teacher had abandoned learning to watch. 

The villain had Captain Hindsight tied up and was about to kill the veteran hero in front of everyone, when a blur of purple dove in and just started whaling on the villain until he passed out, bloody and broken.

The first time the public had ever seen Mysterion in full was the moment when he ran across the studio to untie Captain Hindsight. Craig remembered being in awestruck terror that someone his own age could actually do something like that. That someone smaller than he was could come so close to actually taking someone else's life.

Kenny's cheeks colored. "I was an impulsive kid going through a lot of shit! He needed help, and I had skipped school that day! Anyone would have done the same in that situation!"

"I'm not blaming you for it or saying you did anything wrong." Craig gently punched Kenny's shoulder. "I mean, when I was an impulsive teenager, I threw my little sister's boyfriend's car into a lake."

Kenny snickered. "Wow, really? Did he deserve it or were you being petty?"

"He was nearly twenty and my sister was fourteen. I was being a good brother." Craig snorted. "Jackass lost a lot of appeal when he couldn't drive anymore." Craig paused then asked, "You said yesterday you had a sister, right? What's she like?"

"Oh, Karen?" Kenny patted his pockets for his phone. "She's the best. So sweet and caring." He turned on his phone and proudly presented his lock screen. A young woman and another man flanked Kenny, who stood proudly between them, arms around their shoulders. "That's my little sister, Karen, and my big brother, Kevin. He's not as sweet. He's kind of an asshole, actually, but I love him anyway."

"Your parents realize the alphabet had twenty-three other letters in it? They didn't have to have all your names start with 'K'." Craig teased.

Kenny rolled his eyes. "Fuck off." He powered down his phone and shoved it back in his pocket. "At least they put more creativity into the names they chose than a certain superhero I could name."

"Bite me."

"Only if you want me to."

Kenny and Craig spent the afternoon exchanging jabs and stories until the sun began to sink down in the sky. Craig rolled his shoulders before standing. His joints popped when he stretched out.

"It's getting late. I need to get back to Stripe." He shoved his hands in his pockets. 

"Yeah, I have patrol tonight." Kenny hopped to his feet. "Gotta go lurk around, make devil deals, suck some spines, ya know, the normal." He elbowed Craig in the side with a snicker. 

Craig turned to head back towards the base when he paused. He took a breath before turning. With squared shoulders, he looked down into Kenny's eyes. 

"I'm sorry." He said.

Kenny furrowed his brow. "For what?"

Craig shrugged. "Being so quick to judge you as a kid. I think, if we had met before C&F, we would have been good friends. You're not nearly as much of an emo weirdo as I thought you were."

Kenny's eyes widen. He blinked a few times before a smile spread across his face. "Well, we can still start now, right? Once Tweek is back, and, well, everything is normal, maybe we could hang out again? All three of us if you want."

Craig smiled back, though not as wide. "Yeah, I think that'd be cool."

* * *

When Craig returned to his room, he was meant with a sobering reality. 

Stripe was gone.

He wasn't in his travel cage, or wandering around the room. He was gone. 

Craig rubbed his forehead as he used the bed to haul himself to his feet. He knew from experience that Stripe liked to play hide and seek, but now was not the time!

"Are you looking for your pet?" A voice said behind him. Craig turned as Doctor Daniels walked in. She clicked her pen before scribbling something on her clipboard.

"Where is he?" 

Doctor Daniel pointed her pen over her shoulder. "I had him taken back to your own room. Unlike our local vet, ToolShed, I don't care for animals in my offices." Doctor Daniels sent him a sympathetic smile. "If you want, you can go spend the night in your room. I don't really have any reason to keep you here anymore. You're perfectly healthy, Super Craig."

Craig bit back the snarky remark that pressed against his teeth. There was no need to be rude. Doctor Daniels was trying to be nice--also anything he'd say would eventually get back to Tupperware, and he'd get an earful for it. That was not something he particularly wanted to deal with. 

Instead, Craig nodded his thanks. He gathered up his papers into a tidy stack and stuck them back in a file folder. He glanced around once, making sure he hadn't left anything else. 

"Um, thanks, for making sure I don't die and shit." He told the doctor. She chortled and patted his arm before shooing him out of the room.

* * *

Craig let out a sigh as he grabbed for the doorknob to his room. After being stuck in that hospital room, the cozy familiarity of his own was a welcomed change. He tossed his file folder to the desk near his dresser, nearly knocking over one of his models. He set his hand on the incomplete spaceship.

Tweek and he had been working on this model on and off in their free time whenever it was one of their turns to guard the base. He rubbed his thumb over the nose of the ship before swallowing hard. 

He hadn't actually cried over all this, over the break up, over Tweek, none of it. No way he was going to cry when anyone from Doctor Daniels to Clyde could walk in on him in the medical ward. Maybe he could finally let a few tears slip now that he was alone.

Craig slid his fingers down the ship before ghosting them across the table to the dresser. Beside the dresser on a low, long table was Stripe's cage. At their house, Craig and Tweek had Frankensteined two multi tiered enclosures together for Stripe to run around and play in. Unfortunately, no matter how much Craig tried, Doctor Timothy refused to let him remodel his own room to make a new enclosure for Stripe here. So his wonderful, sweet pet was left with a basic cage when he deserved so much more.

Maybe Craig could ask Kenny about an inter-dimensional pocket room. If Kenny as Mysterion could ghost through dimensions to move around, would it be too much of a stretch to make a pocket one just for the best pet in the universe?

Filing the thought away for later, Craig reached into the cage. Stripe wasn't out in the open, but Craig knew his Stripe well enough to know that he liked to sleep under the fake mossy log in the corner.

"Stripe, I'm here." Craig carefully picked up the log as he spoke. He furrowed his brow. Save for the indent in the shredded paper from Stripe digging to make himself a comfortable nest, there was no indication of the guinea pig. 

"Stripe, this isn't funny. I don't want to play hide and seek right now." Craig frowned, placing the log back and going to check under the plastic castle instead. "Where are you?" A jolt of worry rushed through his chest. What if someone took him? He already lost Tweek; He couldn't handle losing Stripe, too.

A low, amused chuckle echoed around the room. 

"I guess we'll keep playing a little later." A familiar voice said. "Huh, Stripe?"

Craig spun around with his heart blaring in his ears. That voice. That voice sounded just like Tweek's. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be--

Tweek leaned against the door to the bathroom with Stripe held in his arms. He ran his fingers through the rodents fur with a lazy smile. 

Tweek was different. His messy hair had been dyed black, and a scar curved through the side of his mouth, but at that moment Craig could care less. He couldn't even see any of the injuries from the fights he'd been in with the other heroes. Shaking, Craig stole a step forward.

"Tweek?" He whispered. "Oh, God, Tweek, it's you. You're ok. Your hair looks weird, but you're ok." 

Tweek walked towards the bed and sat. He situated Stripe in his lap then pat the seat beside him. Wasting not a second, Craig took the seat. He placed his hands on Tweek's forearms and squeezed.

He was real. Tweek was here. Tweek was sane. Tweek wasn't hurt. A weight lifted off of Craig's shoulders and he slumped forward, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulders.

"I was so worried, babe." He mumbled. A few of the tears he'd held back started to prick his eyes. Tweek carded his fingers through Craig's hair with a hum before sliding his hands down his jaw to his chin and making him look up.

Tweek smiled softly before he raised Craig's face and pressed a kiss to his lips. It had more force behind it than Craig was use to getting, but he didn't care. He pressed his palm against the back of Tweek's hand and kissed back. His lips felt electric, as they always did when Tweek pulled away. Whether that was a side effect of Tweek's powers or not, Craig was never sure.

Tweek rubbed his lips together then popped them. "Well, you're better at that than him. I'm not surprised." Tweek leaned back, scratching Stripe between the ears.

"Better than..." Craig shook his head. It didn't matter. "Tweek, what's going on? Honey, please, tell me what's wrong. I know someone's controlling you. Tell me who, so we can kick their ass."

Tweek eyed him a moment before a wide smile carved his face. Suddenly, it wasn't just the black hair that was different. He snorted a laugh before picking up Stripe. He pressed their noses together.

"Oh, Craig, Craig, Craig. He's not as clever as mine. At least he's just as cute. Right, Stripe?" Tweek kissed the guinea's nose. "I bet he could figure it all out if he wasn't missing such a fundamental piece of information." He straighten his arms out, holding Stripe aloft. "He doesn't know I'm not his Tweek, does he? Isn't that cute?" Tweek lowered Stripe back down, holding him to his chest. 

Tweek peeked at Craig through his lashes with a sly smile. Craig searched his face. This was Tweek, no doubt. Same round face, same button nose, same two toned eyes, same messy hair, same pudgy stomach, but this was also not Tweek. The way he held himself was too calm. He didn't twitch and his tone was too smooth, now that Craig thought about it. 

"Who are you?" Craig demanded in a low growl. It took a lot of effort to keep his gaze fixed on the Not Tweek and not dart down to Stripe. 

"I'm Tweek, Tweek Tweak. I'm your boyfriend." He leaned forward, trying to rest his head against Craig, but Craig pushed him away. The Not Tweek pouted a moment then heaved a sigh. "That is true, Craig. I'm not lying. I really am Tweek Tweak--I'm just not _your_ Tweek Tweak."

"The fuck does that mean? And gimme back Stripe." 

Not Tweek pursed his lips but slowly handed the guinea pig back. Craig held Stripe protectively against his chest. Stripe squeaked up at him. Craig could feel Stripe telling him to calm down the moment he touched his body. Craig took a breath, focusing a moment on what Stripe was trying to communicate: This imposter Tweek isn't a threat, his intentions aren't to hurt Craig, and Craig needed to try and keep calm.

"You kiss better than him, but you _really_ aren't as sharp." Not Tweek chuckled. "I'm from a different universe, dingus. You know about those, don't you?"

Unfortunately, yes, he did. Craig was well-versed in the fact that there were different universe other than his own. They were all annoying and overly confusing. 

He groaned. "Goddammit. I fucking hate those."

Not Tweek rested his elbow on his shin then his chin in his palm. "I do too. They're the worst. My Craig likes them, though. Something about seeing all the “what if's” gives him a comfort." Not Tweek's lazy smile slipped into a frown. "That's probably why he chose to pull this stupid stunt with your Tweek."

Craig glared. "What 'stupid stunt'? What did he do to Tweek? Why? And how do I fix it? Tell me or I swear I'll--"

Not Tweek placed a finger against Craig's lips. "Threatening a super villain won't get you far, you know. We're too use to it."

Craig rolled his eyes and pushed Not Tweek's hand away. A super villain alternate universe. Of, fucking, course that's what it would be. Just _of-fucking-course._ Couldn't be the Easy to Talk Out of Scheme universe or the One Punch Fixes universe. Mother fuck.

Leaning back on his hands, Not Tweek said, "Anyway, to answer your first question, that stupid stunt is my Craig's way of punishing himself. He wants me to break up with him after something he did."

"That doesn't make any fucking sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Not Tweek quipped. "Craig is scared to own up to his mistake, so he's trying to worm out of it like a coward instead of moving on like an adult." He fell back to his back and dropped his hands over his stomach. "When I heard he came here, I figured this universe's Craig would need a little...help getting everything back to normal. So I hijacked a dimension hopping gun and used a tome of teleportation to get in your room." He flashed a grin. His teeth were too white, and it made Craig uncomfortable.

Pushing the feeling away, he held Not Tweek's gaze. Not Tweek frowned before glancing away. He stared at Craig's hand setting on the bed before making a move for it.

Craig pulled away quickly. "Stop that."

"We're boyfriends. Boyfriends hold hands." Not Tweek replied, trying again with the same result.

"We are not. You aren't my Tweek. You don't get the honor of holding my hand." Craig clenched his hands into fists. "You haven't answered my other question. What did your Craig do to my Tweek?"

Not Tweek laced his own hands together. "We call it the 'Control Gun' back home. It's not really a gun, but we still call it that anyway. It fires these little darts. If the darts land right at the base of the spine, then the sap that was hit is nearly completely under the person with the gun's control. It's super illegal and even us villains made a pact not to use it on each other."

Craig frowned. "How do I undo it. Just pry the dart out?"

"Well, you _could_ but you might paralyze him from the neck down." Not Tweek shrugged. "Best way is to destroy the gun itself--which Craig has with him. It's a powerful weapon, but it only works within a relatively small radius."

"So, we find this Not Craig, kick his ass, take the gun, break it into a million and three pieces, and Tweek is back to normal?"

Not Tweek nodded. "In not as many words, yes."

Craig shut his eyes. He felt Stripe press against his hand. Worry clawed at his stomach. If Not Craig was a super villain, then who knows what sort of horrible things he's doing to Tweek. Craig clenched his eyes shut tighter, pushing the horrific images that came to the forefront of his mind away. Tweek was going to be ok. Craig was going to find hi. They might both have to take a break from heroism for a few months, but it would all end up ok. 

Craig peaked open his eyes. Holding Stripe in one arm, he stood. Not Tweek watched him as he pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Not Tweek demanded. 

"Getting help." Craig deadpanned. "We need more heroes to get this done."

"No!" Not Tweek jumped to his feet. "I can barely stand my own super villain union. No way in hell could I work with them when they're all a bunch of goodie-two-shoes." His face twisted into a cringe. "If you're even half the man my Craig is, we can do this together, just you and me."

Craig fixed a stare on Not Tweek then turned back to his phone.

"I don't know how your union does it, but mine helps each other out. Right now my _friends_ are searching for a way to help Tweek." He began to type. "If you want my help, you get their help too. Package deal. Take it or leave it."

Not Tweek glared, but he wavered after a moment and looked down. Craig felt a sense of pride well up in his chest for a moment. His Tweek could hold his glare for so much longer. Sometimes, it was even Craig who looked away first. 

As he finished his group text to his fellow heroes and friends, Craig added another note to his ever growing list to tell Tweek what a badass he thought he was when this was all over.

* * *

At nine like clockwork, Craig heard a knock at his door. He set the piece of the model he had been painting aside, dropped the paintbrush in the cup of water, and stood up from his desk. He glanced over at Not Tweek as he lay on the bed, Stripe resting on his chest. 

"Ready?" He asked. Not Tweek groaned in reply and did not sit up. Craig ignored his response and went to the door. He opened it just enough to peek out. Tupperware, Mosquito, and Fastpass stood outside the door. They all wore expressions with varying degrees of worry. 

"You texted? Said it was an emergency. A secret emergency." Tupperware frowned. 

"And said to bring snacks." Mosquito cut in, holding up a plastic sack. Craig reached out, careful not to open the door too wide, and took the sack. Recently, Mosquito had started to keep the best snacks in his own room. Apparently Bebe had gotten on to him at his house for his snacking habit, so he began storing them in at the base. Craig had to wonder where he wpuld hide them next when Bebe inevitably found out.

Craig took a prepackaged cinnamon roll from the sack. He turned a little and tossed the cinnamon roll. It landed on the best next to Not Tweek. If he did not have Stripe on his stomach, Craig would have aimed for his face instead, but the risk of hitting his pet was too high. Not Tweek took the cinnamon roll and raised his lip in disgust. 

Of course, Not Tweek wouldn't like cinnamon like his Tweek did. Rolling his eyes, Craig turned back to his friends. 

"W-W-What was that for?" Fastpass raised an eyebrow.

"I'll explain in a second." Craig poked his shoulders out the door and looked around. "Is Mysterion here? I text him too."

Tupperware held up a finger. The front of his helmet flashed with screens and data. He scanned it, eyes moving faster than any normal human, before the screens disappeared. He shrugged. 

"He's in the base. On the way now, I bet." 

"The fact you're hooked up to the base's security system really bugs me," Mosquito muttered. 

Fastpass elbowed him in the side. "What? Does he have blackmail on you?"

Mosquito shouted, "No!" at the same time as Tupperware stated, "Yes." 

As Fastpass laughed, Mosquito shot Tupperware a dirty look, which Tupperware replied with a smirk. Craig opened his mouth to cut in when someone else beat him to the punch.

"Who doesn't have blackmail against you?" Mysterion chuckled as he stepped out of the shadows. "Mosquito, I think we all have a picture of your dick from at least one occasion or another."

Mosquito's entire face was red now. Craig kept quiet. He couldn't defend Mosquito about that, even if he wanted to. On one of his old cellphones, he did in fact have a picture of Mosquito's dick with a shitty Snapchat filter on it. Mosquito claimed the picture was an accident, that it was meant for someone else, but Craig always doubted that a little.

Mosquito buried his face in his hands with a groan. "Fuck you all." He peeked through his fingers to Craig. "Craig, just tell us why you called us here. Make them change the damned subject."

"Oh, right." Craig nodded. "It's Tweek. I know what's wrong and how to fix it."

"What?!" All four of the other heroes blurted out. Craig stepped inside and ushered them in. He gestured to Not Tweek on his bed. Four mouths all opened, but Craig hurriedly answered their questions with a quick, three word reply: "Alternate Universe Fuckery."

Not Tweek pushed himself up, the cinnamon roll hung from his teeth. He finished the bite he had before setting the pastry aside.

"For the love of whatever god you believe in, please tell me there is something that isn't sickeningly sweet in there." He pointed to the sack. "I hate sweet things."

Craig searched the bag as he spoke. "Yeah, yeah, on it. Anyway, that's Not Tweek. He's a Tweek from an alternate, alignment-swap universe or whatever. He's a villain, but he's going to help us since it's all his Craig's fault this is happening." Craig pulled a jerky stick from the sack and threw it at Not Tweek. Without having to worry about Stripe, Craig gladly hit Not Tweek in the chest with just enough force to push him back a little. 

"’Alignment Swap?’" Tupperware repeated, critically. "So, we're all villains in that universe? Not just, uh, Not Tweek."

"Don't call me that!" Not Tweek spat. "Super Tweek is my villain name. Use that if you have to call me anything."

Craig pulled a pack of Gushers from the sack. "That's too confusing. Not Tweek works because you're not our Tweek. Our Tweek is Tweek. If we were in your world, then you'd be Tweek, but we're not, so shut up and just roll with it."

Not Tweek snorted. He took a bite of the jerky stick before he spoke. "Fine, whatever. Well, to answer your question, from what I've gathered yes. Your whole 'Freedom Pals' deal is just a law abiding, justice-sick version of my Evil League."

"E-Ev-Evil League?" Fastpass titled his head. He rested his weight onto one crutch, eyeing Not Tweek skeptically.

"We named it when we were kids, _Freedom Pal_." Not Tweek sneered. 

Fastpass narrowed his eyes, clearly debating if he wanted to take a jab back at Not Tweek or let it slide. After a few beats of thought, he made his decision and let the naming matter drop. Instead he grabbed for the snack sack. Craig let him rummage around as Mysterion marched closer to Not Tweek. 

"How do we know we can even trust you? This could all be a trick." Mysterion crossed his arms.

Craig handed the sack to FastPass. He walked over and plucked Stripe up from Not Tweek's lap. He held the guinea pig out, Stripe's furry nose nearly touching Mysterion's.

"Stripe trusts him. I can feel it. Stripe has never been wrong about people." Craig stated flatly. Mysterion crossed his eyes to look at the guinea pig. Stripe twitched his nose and made a small sound. Mysterion took a step back. He scanned Craig's face then pulled his cloak around himself. 

Mosquito pushed between the two, then took Stripe from Craig. "He's right, actually! Stripe is like a furry goodness detector! The only girl he ever like that I dated was Agent B, and we're still going strong." He pressed Stripe against him, making a few small, unconscious buzzing noises. "Bzzz. Besides, I trust Super Craig, and if Super Craig trusts Stripe, and Stripe trusts inky Tweek, then so do I!"

Not Tweek cocked an eyebrow when he called him 'inky Tweek' but didn't comment on it. Instead he said, "Do you want to keep the dimensional gun I used to get here as collateral, hero? I can go get it right now. I've already made up my mind that I'm not leaving here without my Craig."

Mysterion glanced between Not Tweek, Stripe, and Craig. He huffed. "Fuck. Fine. I guess that would do." 

Not Tweek rolled his eyes, muttering something unflattering about heroes, then waved his hand towards the bathroom. "It's in there. Go fetch, if you want it."

"I will when this is over."

Mysterion still looked skeptical, as did Tupperware, but Fastpass relaxed a little at the explanation. Craig smiled internally at that. He knew Tupperware understood his connection with Stripe was deep, even if the cyborg hero didn't fully believe in Stripe's fantastic origins.

"I don't like this." Mysterion muttered, returning over to Tupperware and Fastpass. He made a motion for the snack sack, and Fastpass passed it off.

"Trust Stripe, Mysterion." Craig stated, sitting on the bed with Stripe in his lap. He tossed a couple Gushers in his mouth.

"As much as I'd like to talk about Stripe, I think we h-have a more pressing matter," Fastpass reminded, eyes fixing on Not Tweek. "Tweek, our Tweek, what happened to him? Where is he? How do we all help?"

Not Tweek tore a part of his jerky stick apart then tossed it in his mouth. He held up a finger as he chewed. He swallowed loudly before speaking. "Never said I know where he is. Figure that out yourselves. As for your other question, well, to put it simply, your Tweek is being controlled by my Craig to get back at me for personal reasons I won't be sharing."

Mosquito narrowed his eyes. "The fuck? Just to get revenge on you, Not Craig comes here to fuck with us? Why?"

Not Tweek shrugged, peeling back more of the wrapper of his beef stick. "Super villain? Stirring the pot like this is what we live for--some more than others." A scowl ghosted across his face for a moment before his aloof expression returned. 

"But that's so petty!" Mosquito shook his head. "And overly complicated."

"Hey," Not Tweek pointed the half eaten beef stick at Mosquito, "Wonder Craig is the cute one, not the smart one." A pause then Not Tweek continued, "Actually, he is smart, really smart. He's not a strategists. His plans are always over the top. It's adorable watching him plan things. He makes models with cardboard and everything." He chuckled into his hand. A sound that made Craig cringe. There was an almost condescending tone to the laugh. He couldn't tell if the condescension stemmed from how Not Craig was currently acting out or if it was there all the time. 

Tupperware took a step. "How is our Tweek being controlled? Explain."

Not Tweek reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He flicked it at Tupperware, who snatched it mid air. 

As Tupperware unfolded the paper, Not Tweek explained. "That's how it works, as well I as I know."

Tupperware furrowed his brow. "Is this it? It doesn't make sense. This thing shouldn't work."

"What more do you expect? I'm an elementalist, not a gadgeteer. Be lucky I know that much." Not Tweek pulled the last of the beef stick from the wrapper. "There are some other technical components. Figure them out yourselves."

Craig rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter how it works. What matters is its limitations. Tell em, Not Tweek."

Not Tweek crumbled up the wrapper and made a shot towards the waste basket by the desk. It didn't even make it half way there before falling to the ground. He rolled his eyes at it, but made no move to grab it.

"The Control Gun is pretty useful, but it's not strong. The range is only three hundred feet or so, and it only can control someone for about a hour and a half before it runs out of battery power. The only way to break control is to use the controller. Either break it or input a certain code." 

Tupperware looked up from the paper. "According to this, there is a dart placed at the base of the spinal cord. We couldn't just remove it?"

Craig shook his head. "Apparently it's too big of a risk. It could hurt Tweek."

"More than exploding right next to him?" Mosquito asked, only to receive a jab in the ribs from Fastpass. 

"Last time someone tried to pry one of the darts out, the lady's heart gave out, and she kicked the bucket." Not Tweek quipped. "Ruined Human Kite's jewelry heist, too. Poor sap." He did not sound at all sympathetic.

Mysterion rubbed his chin in thought. "Right before Tweek disappears, every time he lets lose a torrent of rain and weather, making him impossible to get close to or follow. Given that, and that Tweek is a bitch to keep down--um, no offense, Super Craig--"

"None taken. It's true."

"--then I bet Not Craig is doing that to keep Tweek too tired to try and escape once the controller wears off."

Not Tweek clapped sarcastically. "Wow, figure that out yourself? Congrats, you've just passed mind controlling a superhero 101."

"Hey, what's your fucking deal?" Mysterion snapped. 

Not Tweek held up his hands in surrender. "Nothing, nothing. Just continue on your little thought tangent."

Mysterion glared but didn't reply to him. Instead he took a breath before continuing, "So, he would have to be keeping Tweek somewhere where he could easily get him to and from his targets."

Fastpass' eye light up when he figured out where Mysterion was going. "So we look at the attacks, where they all start and end, and we can find a radius to start looking!"

"Bingo." Mysterion nodded. "Tup, can you plot that?"

"Already on it." 

A map of the city appeared on Tupperware's helmet. Red dots and circles appearing around the map. Fastpass stood and stepped closer, into Tupperware's space, trying to get a better look at the map. Mosquito mimicked him. Even Mysterion stood on his toes to look over the other heroes at the map.

Not Tweek snorted a laugh and shook his head. Craig raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? Never seen friends working together before?"

"No, I just can't imagine my own teammates stepping up this far to help me," Not Tweek crossed his arms. "Unless they were all in danger somehow, too. Not that I can say much, I wouldn't help most of them for nothing either. They're all assholes."

Before Craig could reply, the sound of someone hitting the floor caught his attention. 

"Space, give me space!" Tupperware had his arms held in front of him.

Mosquito blinked up from the carpet. His wings fluttered once. "Rude, but fair." He said.

Fastpass chuckled, and Mysterion took a pack of peanut butter crackers from the sack. He tossed the sack onto the bed as Tupperware helped Mosquito to his feet.

"Sorry." 

"'It’s 'k." Mosquito smiled.

"Alright." Tupperware held out his hand and a projection of the city appeared on the floor. A wide circle glowed in an area of downtown. 

Craig leaned forward, careful of Stripe. "That's the radius? It's nearly half the city!"

"Bzzt! He's right! It barely narrows anything down!" Mosquito whined. 

"Guess it was too much to ask for us to p-p-pinpoint Tweek’s location that fast." Fastpass sighed as he circled the map. Mysterion took a few steps then crouched. Not Tweek sat up straighter, trying to get a better look at the radius as well. 

"Craig likes to play it safe." Not Tweek muttered, more to himself than to anyone in the room. "He'd be somewhere without many witness, that no one would care if he loitered around."

Mysterion turned to reach for something in one of the pouches at his back. He pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. Carefully reading over it, he looked back to the map, then at the paper again. In one quick motion, he bounce to his feet and handed the paper to Tupperware. 

"Can you highlight this address?" He asked. 

Tupperware furrowed his brow, but nodded. A small green dot appeared just to the left of the circle, barely a street away. 

"What is that, Mysterion?" Fastpass asked. 

"I think it's our location." Mysterion's eyes gleamed. "I've noticed some strange activities and movements among some of the gangs in the city. They're not fighting as much, and I've seen members of one gang in another's area. It's too odd, so I had a friend of mine investigate and see what he could dig up. He gave me that address as somehow important--though he wasn't sure how."

Mysterion must have been talking about Christophe, Craig realized. He pushed himself up, cradling Stripe in one arm, and stepped closer. The green dot was right over a large, abandon storage facility, in the middle of the rough side of the city.

"Isn't that an old Chaos base?" Craig muttered.

"But Professor Chaos is retired. He's on the straight and narrow." Fastpass frowned. "Why would he want to risk prison to help?"

"He wouldn't." Mysterion stated. "I know for a fact he's staying on the up-and-up. Not Craig's just using the base. The storage units are just repurposed shipping containers. They're massive, and Chaos connected most of them with pathways. Perfect for sneaking around and hiding people."

"Why would all those gang members be there, then?" Mosquito asked. "Wouldn't that be too much of a risk to have people know?"

Not Tweek shook his head. "It would be more of a risk for Craig to have no clue what was going on around the city's underworld. Knowing him, and believe me I do, he's probably threatening everyone into working for him." He smiled fondly. "Craig tried the same thing when he was thirteen. It must be going better this time around without Timmy stealing the idea for himself."

"So you th-think he's probably there?" Fastpass asked. 

Not Tweek nodded. "Definitely."

Tupperware zoomed in on the storage facility. It lay on a large, square plot of land with it's units laid out like a grid. 

Mosquito rubbed his chin. "Think if we waited at the sides until after Tweek's done attacking the city and heading back, we could corner him and Not Craig?"

Tupperware made yellow dots appear around the perimeter with one dot on two sides and two dots on the others. He hummed to himself in thought. "If we put the teams of two at the front and back entrances, we could actually make this work." 

The smile on Tupperware’s face soon spread to Mosquito, then Fastpass. Even Mysterion lips twisted upwards a fraction. Not Tweek just shrugged and nodded in agreement.

This could actually work. It really, really could! Tweek could be saved as soon as tomorrow. Craig could punch his doppelganger’s teeth out before dinner time.

Stripe squirmed in Craig's arm, and the brutalist realized he was starting to squeeze his pet. He soften his grip and gave Stripe an apologetic pet.

_Don't worry, Tweek. I'm coming._

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I doubt anyone remembers, knows, or saw it, but I made a post on my personal blog a while back that the black haired Tweek from the scouts episode being the mirror, evil Tweek. Guess I finally found a reason to implement it huh? 
> 
> Next update will be a two for on Monday.
> 
> [ My writing Tumblr.](uas-fics.tumblr.com)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get some back story. A lot of back story.

Somehow, Craig felt worse sleeping in his own room than he did in the medical ward. The familiarity of the room that had earlier left him feeling at home, now mocked him. He rarely slept alone in this room. Tweek was almost always there next to him. He pulled his pillow closer to his chest. Since the last time Craig and Tweek had stayed the night, the pillow and bedding had been washed. Craig couldn't even pretend the scent of rain and coffee that clung to Tweek was there. 

Craig felt the bed dip and the blanket lift. He rolled over to see Not Tweek crawling under the covers. With a swift kick, Craig pushed Not Tweek off the bed. Not Tweek stumbled and landed on the floor with a thud. Craig didn't know how much force he used in the kick, but it was probably more than he needed to. 

Not Tweek crawled to his knees then moved towards the bed. His face was set in a pout, a pout Craig found himself disliking more and more. His Tweek didn't pout like a child when he didn't get his way. If anything, Craig was the one more likely to whimper and whine when he was ignored or rejected Tweek's affection. 

"I got you a blanket," Craig snapped, "and pillows. Sleep on the floor, make a nest in the shower, whatever, but you're not sleeping with me."

A small whimper escaped Not Tweek's throat. "Oh, come'on. Just for a second? I'm kind of feeling touch starved here."

Craig pulled his blanket over his head. "You have the wifi password. You have a right hand. Go turn on the shower and have at it."

With a yank, Not Tweek tore away the blanket. "If I wanted sex since Craig and I have been apart, I would have gotten it." There was a very slight edge in his voice that made Craig curve an eyebrow. He propped himself up on his elbow.

"Why are you two apart? You said he doesn't want own up to his mistake," He asked. While he was curious as to the deeper reasoning behind Not Tweek and Not Craig's thought processes, he would also be perfectly happy if the prying question made Not Tweek leave to hide in the bathroom.

"Not quite. We had an argument." He stated coolly. 

"About?"

At this, Not Tweek glanced away for a brief second. He leaned his arms on the mattress and rested against them. He heaved a sigh.

"His parents." Not Tweek ground his teeth, the first real anger Craig could recall him displaying. "His stupid fucking parents, who kicked him out of the house when he was barely a teenager all because he told them he's gay."

"Um, wow," Craig muttered in disbelief. 

He remembered when he came out to his own parents. He'd gathered them and his sister around the dinner table and laid it all out: he was gay, he liked boys, he only ever dated the girls because he thought that was what he was suppose to do. 

He remembered the feeling of fear that gripped his stomach. He remembered trying to keep his words and body from shaking. He remembered his dad standing up and leaving for a drive, only to come back later that night when Craig was in bed. 

For the briefest moment, Craig could almost feel his dad's arms around him. The ghost of his words of love and acceptance played as an echo in the back of his head. He couldn't imagine how he would have turned out if his family rejected him.

"That, uh, that really sucks." Craig replied, mostly because he didn't know what else to say.

Not Tweek buried his nosed in his arms. "Yeah. But Craig, motherfucking Craig Tucker, for some reason I don't think I'll ever understand, goes and tries to talk to his family and get them back in his life. Every. Single. Year. A family who tossed his ass out on the curb, jeopardizing his budding villain career, all because they didn't like him kissing boys." A fire sprang to life in Not Tweek's eyes. "And every single fucking year, Craig comes back in the dumps and feeling like shit."

"Why bother then?" If that Craig's family was anywhere near as stubborn as Craig's own, Craig wouldn't have even tried.

"I don't know." Not Tweek sighed. "I really, really don't know. His sister let him back into her life when she moved out, maybe he thinks his parents will too, or maybe he wants to make sure he stays in his grandmother's will. Either way, I hate dealing with the aftermath, so every year I tell him he shouldn't be the one reaching out to them. He never listens. Never. And this year, I...I...fuck." Not Tweek ran a hand through his hair. "I fucked up. I took it too far when we started to fight over it and said some things I shouldn't have." 

Craig didn't ask what Not Tweek could have said, but he could imagine what heated words could have gotten thrown around in the moment. 

"So Not Craig came here to fuck with Tweek to get you back?"

Not Tweek looked away. "Not exactly. He...he thinks he already got me back, and that he's the one who went too far."

"How?" 

"He slept with someone else." Not Tweek's voice was barely above a whisper. 

"Oh." Much like before, Craig couldn't think of anything to say.

He couldn't actually imagine he and Tweek getting in to a fight so bad he went out and cheated while they were still together. He'll, he couldn't even give a sincere effort to cheat when he did think they weren't together.

Besides, he had other ways to piss off Tweek if he wanted to: break his favorite cup, purposely drink milk from the carton, hide his iPod, or take all the labels off the spice jars.

Just before the silence became too much. Not Tweek muttered, "He probably thinks I'm mad at him about it, but I'm really not."

"You're not?" Craig's brow crinkled. "He cheated on you. How can you not be angry?"

"Because he cheated on me with Mysterion," Not Tweek rolled his eyes. "Sleeping with Mysterion doesn't count as cheating. Mysterion is a smooth talker. He can convince anyone to do just about anything with him if he can jabber on long enough. Knowing that, there is no reason for me to give any fucks that they slept together." The way he spoke, it was like he was explaining a common fact to a child. 

The memory of the bouncer and the waitress at Raisin’s played quickly in Craig's head. The Mysterion he knew had a certain tone he used when trying to,persuade people to his side, like a rally cry. The few times Professor Chaos had worked with Freedom Pals, it had always been Mysterion who convinced him to lay his evil schemes aside and join in the fight for the greater good. 

While Kenny's friendliness was out right, Mysterion's was subtle, Craig decided, but they were both the same nature that drew people to come to their way of thinking. The thought of him using it for evil almost made Craig shudder.

"If that's true, why does he want to make you mad enough to break up with him?" Craig asked as he propped the pillow under his chin.

Not Tweek shrugged. "Wants to punish himself, I guess. That's probably why your Tweek when ape on you. Having a Tweek kick a Craig's ass is probably cathartic for him somehow." Not Tweek pushed back from the bed then stretched. "I'm sure once we find him, I can talk some sense into his head--or at least chill him long enough for someone to break the controller." 

Craig glanced to the side, at the unfinished rocket on his desk, at Stripe's pen, then back at Not Tweek. He pursed his lips before scooting over to the edge of the bed. In one fluid movement, he grabbed Not Tweek under the armpits and dropped him onto the bed beside him. 

He pointed as he spoke. "Stay on top of the covers. If you try and get under, or touch me, there is going to be a Tweek-sized hole in the wall. Got it?"

Not Tweek blinked before a lopsided smile spread across his face. For a brief moment, Craig could ignore the black hair and just see his Tweek looking back at him. Once the moment faded, however, a pang of worry hit him. He shook it off before rolling over and pulling the covers up to his ears.

He grumbled, "Good night." then spent the next hour forcing himself to sleep.

* * *

He looked so much like Craig. It was almost amazing Tweek wasn't next to his own boyfriend.

But that wasn't Craig, not his Craig, anyway. This was Hero Craig. Hero Craig who let Tweek sleep beside him even though he was sure he didn't really like him that much.

Tweek watched him breathe, deeply, in and out, in and out. His hand twitched. He wanted to touch him, like he did his own. He wanted to cup his face, run his fingers through his hair, kiss him, but he knew better and clenched his fist. 

Tweek took a breath before carefully rolling off the bed to the floor. He snagged his phone off the bedside table, using its dim light to travel to the bathroom. Shutting the door first, he flicked on the light switch. Out of habit, he glanced down at his lock screen. Of course he wouldn't have any new messages or notifications. None of his accounts existed in this world. He was still honestly surprised his phone could even connect to the Base's wifi.

He twisted the sink on and let the water run cold before splashing his face. After wiping the water off from his face, he looked in the mirror. His fingers brushed against the scar across his lips. He smiled fondly at it. The scar came from the first big fight he and Craig had ever had, when both of them had been goaded on by some of the other villains. Though it ended in a tie, both of them walked away with a limp and bruises, he like to tease Craig that he had let him off easy. Then Craig would always playfully counter that he was the one to let Tweek off ease, because he felt bad about messing such a pretty face.

Tweek frowned, and the face in the mirror mimicked his expression. 

A sigh escaped his nose. Tweek didn't like alternate universes--at all. Everything was different, but also the same, and the contrast bothered him in a way he could never really describe. He nearly screamed when ToolShed angrily called him up with the news Craig had stolen one of his dimension hopping rifles. Tweek had desperately hoped that Craig was just pranking him, but when he found out that Craig had asked Mosquito to take care of Stripe for him, he knew he would have to chase Craig down. 

Water filled the sink half way. Tweek pushed the faucet aside and shoved his face down into the water, trying to focus on the cool liquid across his face and not his thoughts.

After a couple of minutes, Tweek threw his head back, gasping for air. Holding himself up with his arms, he panted. 

"Craig, why did you do this?" He asked the mirror as if it would magically reply. "I told you I didn't care. It doesn't matter."

His chest tighten as he remembered finding out about Craig's infidelity. 

Tweek figured that a fight that bad would take a while for both of them to calm down and spent the morning loafing around the house, scrolling through the same posts on his Twitter and Instagram and refreshing Craig's accounts over and over. 

Craig had stormed out, not even bothering to take Stripe with him, and as angry as Tweek was, he still wanted to know where Craig had gone off to and if he was safe. 

As he refreshed Craig's Twitter for the seventh time, he received a discord call. Raising his eyebrow, Tweek accepted the call. 

"What?" He asked, trying to keep any irritability out of his voice. No one else needed to know what happened between him and his boyfriend.

"Morning!" Mysterion's smiling, unmasked face greeted him. Tweek let a cringe of disgust raise his lip up. He didn't hate Mysterion, per say, but after being forced onto a team with him during the Villain Civil War, Tweek had found he didn't quite like him either. Mysterion was a snob who looked down his nose at nearly everyone.

"What?" Tweek repeated, deadpan. He didn't like the shit eating grin Mysterion had on. He only wore a smile like that when he was trying to start drama.

"I found something you will definitely be interested in, Super Tweek." Mysterion leaned back, twirreling the cord of one of his headphone's between his fingers. He wasn't just unmasked, he also didn't have a shirt on. Hickeys peppered his shoulders. Truly, he was living up to the billionaire, playboy jackass persona he had made for himself.

"I'm not feeling up to a heist right now." Tweek replied, pushing himself up into a more comfortable sitting position on the couch.

Mysterion's grin grew, as did the ball of dread in Tweek's stomach. "Oh, it's not a heist! It's something else completely." He pulled out one headphone. "You see Tweek, I found the most amazing sight in my bed this morning. Have a look for yourself." The camera panned around to a form sprawled out across the bed.

A line of drool rolled down Craig's chin has he slept, completely nude, with a blanket thrown across his legs. 

The dread in his stomach turned to ice that spread through Tweek's body.

Mysteiron laughed then said, "I see why you keep him around now, Tweek. He's great."

Through clenched teeth, Tweek demanded, "What did you do to him?"

The camera turned back to Mysterion. "Do to _him_? More like what did he do to _me_." Another laugh. 

"I said, what did you do to him?"

Mysterion shrugged then sneered, "Nothing. I just found him at the bar last night, heartbroken, and gave him an option to get his mind off it. It's not my fault he took it. I guess I offered him more support than you were willing to give."

Tweek took a breath and let it out through his nose. This wasn't the first time Mysterion had pulled this stunt. Tweek had seen Mysterion do this before between other villains and anti-heroes: Fool around and see how far he could push the bonds between people before they snapped. He did it when he fucked around with ToolShed behind Call Girl's back. He fed Mosquito lies about that Bebe girl that caused them to break up. He destroyed The Coon and Human Kite's friendship beyond repair.

And now he had come for Tweek and Craig. 

Tweek shrugged, falling back into his normal aloof expression. He wasn't giving Mysterion the satisfaction. He wasn't going to let Mysterion win.

"I guess you did. Hope you enjoyed your reward. Don't tell Craig I know." And he hung up. Tweek stared down at his phone and the ended call screen before standing up calmly and launching his phone across the room.

Shaking himself from his memories, Tweek turned off the water and watched as it slowly spin down the drain. He let himself slip down to the tile floor. He spotted his jacket tossed to the side and snagged it. He slipped the too big jacket on and pulled it tight around himself. It wasn’t originally his jacket. It was Craig’s, but Tweek had taken it one day and claimed it at his own, going as far as to sew his own villain logo onto the shoulders.

Tweek smiled to himself. He could still hear Craig’s nasally laugh when Tweek asked him how he looked in it. 

His smile fell after a moment.

This was all his fault. If he had kept calmer when Craig came back so downtrodden, then Craig wouldn't have had to run to someone else. If he had just kept his mouth shut and held him, they would be home now.

Tweek ran a hand through his hair, staring unfocused at the side of the bathtub. He'd left his dimension hopping rifle there earlier. Hero Mysterion must have made good on his word to take it. He hoped these heroes didn't break it. Though Tweek could care less if ToolShed was mad at him or not, he didn't want to risk that Craig had broken his as well and they would be stuck in this shirty, goodie two shoes universe forever.

Tweek groaned, hitting his head against the cabinet. 

"Craig Tucker, why the fuck are you like this?" Tweek muttered before slowly pushing himself back up. With a heavy weight in his stomach, Tweek flipped off the light and went back to the bed.

* * *

"Craig has the sweet tooth between us, but this is good. You're a not a bad cook--better than my Mosquito, anyway," Not Tweek complimented around a lemon bar. Mosquito shoved another in his mouth before noisily saying his thanks. Chunks of yellow, half-chewed bits scattered across Craig's sheets. 

Craig yawned. The plan meeting would be in an hour or so, and Craig just hoped he could stay awake. He'd only gotten a few hours of light sleep before spending the rest of the time tossing and turning in worry. At some point in the night, Not Tweek even got sick of the constant movement and pulled the blanket off the bed and made himself a bed on the floor. Craig woke up cold and exposed.

Stripe turned in Craig's lap. He fixed his gaze on Craig for a moment, and Craig shrugged. He tore a part of lemon bar off and held it down to Stripe. Stripe sniffed it then grabbed the offering and began to eat it.

"Hey, so what's your Mosquito like anyway? Bzzt!" Mosquito asked. "Is he as rugged and cool as me?"

"He's an asshole who once held half the US hostage with the threat of plague infected pests." Not Tweek stated wryly. "It was one of the few times all the villains and heroes had to come together. It was not fun." Not Tweek wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Other than that, he's not so bad. Mostly he's just a know it all."

"Oh," Mosquito shirked down, wringing his hands together. "What about your Fastpass or Tupperware? Are they assholes too?"

"All villains are assholes." Not Tweek stated matter-of-factly. "Comes with the territory."

Stripe crawled up Craig's knee, trying to sneak another bit of lemon bar, but Craig lifted his hand up. 

"Why'd you even become a villain anyway?" Craig asked. "My Tweek wanted to be a hero to help people. Stripe suggest I be one and I didn't have anything better to do. Mosquito thought it'd get him girls. What's your reason?"

Not Tweek rolled his eyes. "Do villains not monologue their backstories in this world, or do you really want to hear the whole thing?"

"Oh, they monologue." Craig scooped up Stripe with one hand and shoved the rest of his lemon bar into his mouth with the other. "Mephisto once talked about 'fixing God's mistakes' for so long that Tweek and I were able to take out his whole mutant army before he was done."

Not Tweek hummed. "Alright. The reason I became a villain is...I wanted to." He shrugged. "Nothing deeper than that. I randomly got powers from a solar anomaly, and I use them for my own gain and amusement. If not for teaming up with Craig when we were kids, I would have gotten bored of the whole thing and stopped years ago." 

A forlorn smile spread on his face. He laid down on the floor, his hands under his head. "Craig actually does it for a good reason. He likes playing Robin Hood, ya know, take from the rich give to the poor style villainy. For example, everytime we go to a new restaurant and it sucks, we break in, steal the place clean of food and drop it off at a homeless shelter a few cities away before torching the place." A laugh. "He gets so happy knowing he's helping in such a badass way."

Mosquito squirmed in the desk chair, glancing at Craig for him to break the awkward silence that had started once Not Tweek finished. 

"So, uh, is it hard being a villain in your world?" Craig finally asked.

"Eh, not really. Being a villain is a fairly good career path where I'm from. High risk, high reward, as they say." He crossed his leg over his knee. "But being a civilian with a connection to a villain is best though. If it's a tough villain, no one is going to ever mess with you."

"Why not just give up the villain thing and be a house spouse then?" Craig questioned, picking up Stripe and setting him on his shoulders. 

"Why would I do that?" Not Tweek snorted. "Craig and I work best as a team. We're a villainous duo after all. Besides if I left him to run around the house all the time, it would be made into a giant guinea pig hutch in no time." 

Craig's stomach twisted. He wouldn't say it, but he and Tweek had talked about one of them giving up being a hero so they would have a normal life to fall back on when they retired from the game. Craig turning the entire house into Stripe's personal playpen had been one of the teases Tweek brought up against the idea. 

Stripe nuzzled against his cheek. He could feel Craig's unease. Craig pressed the pig closer to his face, calming both their nerves a little. 

"The meeting is going to start soon. We should head that way." Craig pushed himself up. He took Stripe from his shoulders and walked him over to the pen. He set him down, stroking him. Mosquito picked up the near empty pan of lemon bars as Not Tweek stood. 

"Finally get to see the rest of this base and not just one room." Not Tweek stretched until his back popped. "Freak some heroes out. Heh. That'll be fun."

Craig decided not to mention he had Tupperware send out a mass email explaining all of what was going onto the rest of the team. Instead he kept his mouth shut and pet Stripe a few more times before he stood and headed to follow the others out. 

At the door, Craig heard a voice he hadn't heard in years.

" _It'll be alright! You'll save Tweek. You have all your friends with you! I believe in you, Craig!_ " Stripe had scurried up one of the ramps to the top of the pen. He squeaked in loud encouragement and spun around in circles. 

Craig flashed a smile at Stripe then gave a quick thumbs up. 

"Thanks, Stripe. Be ready, I'm sure Tweek will want to hold you when he gets back."

* * *

"Ah, come on. It's sausage. I thought you liked sausage."

Stupid Craig, as Tweek had been referring to him, pushed the pizza slice closer to Tweek. Tweek snorted at him and rolled away, pressing his body against the cold metal wall. Stupid Craig heaved a sigh. The thin, dirty mattress dipped as he sat down. 

"You either eat willingly, or I make you do it. I'm giving you a choice here, Tweek." He sounded like a tired parent. Tweek looked over his shoulder with a glare. He'd already tried putting all his rage into his glares earlier in the vein hope he had some laden fire powers that might set Stupid Craig ablaze.

Unfortunately he didn't, and at this point, Tweek wasn't even really angry anymore. He was just irritated. Irritated he was being controlled. Irritated he even for a minute believe this blond Craig was his and let him close. Irritated he didn't have some sort of barbarian strength he could use to make a Craig-shaped hole in the wall.

After a moment, he pushed himself up then reached for the pizza. Right before his hand touched the greasy crusts, Stupid Craig's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. He yanked his arm up, causing Tweek to fall forward from the force. He hissed at almost having his shoulder pulled from his socket.

"The hell is this?" Craig frowned as he shoved Tweek's sleeve down past his elbow. He sent a pointed look at the nail marks on Tweek's arm. "I told you to stop. I don't like seeing you hurt yourself like this! The hell, Tweek?"

"Wow, it's almost like this is stressful for me, and I'm falling back to bad coping mechanisms because I sure don't have access to my new ones!" Tweek snapped. 

Hurt flashed across Stupid Craig's face. An apology pressed against Tweek's lips but he bit it back. This alternate universe Craig looked so much like his own, even with the blond hair. Their hazel eyes both grew big as their lips pouted out the smallest amount when Tweek hurt their feelings. 

Unlike his Craig, though, Stupid Craig's lip kept going out and started to quiver. 

Tweek tore his hand away when he felt Stupid Craig's grip loosen. He grabbed the pizza and slid back into the corner. He kept eye contact the entire time, daring Stupid Craig to try and grab him again. He might have been drained of his weather powers, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to fight with his fists. 

He nibbled on the pizza. As he expected, it was greasy and tasted like tomato-flavored cardboard with cheap ass fake cheese melted on it. He could make better pizza in his sleep. In the back of his head, he started going through the lists of recipes he'd memorized over the years for one of pizza dough. The closest he could remember clearly was bread dough.

Clyde one time brought some bread rolls with pizza sauce and toppings cooked inside to the house. Those wouldn't be too difficult to replicate.

Tweek tried to lose himself in his thoughts. It was risky, since it wouldn't take much for the pleasant thoughts of baking and cooking to bleed into more negative ones, but it was better than the reality he was in. Just as he was making a list in his heads of ingredients for the pizza bread rolls, Stupid Craig tore him from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered with his head lowered. "If you tell me what you normally do to deal with stress, I can try to help."

"Can you, nnng, pull my kitchen out of your ass? Because I stress bake." Tweek grumbled. 

Stress baking, as Craig lovingly coined it, was one of Tweek's go-to stress relievers when he was off from super hero duties. There was a calming effect in measuring out ingredients, stirring them, and watching whatever he was baking come to life in the oven. 

Tweek almost smiled at the memory of Craig's face when he walked into the kitchen once to see every available flat surface covered with cakes, breads, and cookies. Even if he had let himself smile at the memory, his anxiety would have pushed the reason he ended up stress baking that day to the front of his mind: his parents. 

Tweek unconsciously pulled himself into a tighter ball. He still didn't know how they found his address or phone number. His heart nearly lept out his chest when he heard his dad's too calm voice greet him and say they were in the city and planning to come see him. It had been years since Tweek had dealt with them, but every unsupportive and belittling thing they had ever said to him came racing back before he could even reply. 

Tweek shoved the memories back as best he could. What he wouldn't give for his medication right now. 

"Tweek?" Stupid Craig raised a hand towards him.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Tweek snapped, sending bits of chewed crust on to the mattress. "You are not my Craig, so stop acting like I should like you or owe you anything! You're fucking me up, asshole!" 

Stupid Craig jerked his hand back. His lip went out more, and Tweek had the sudden urge to reach out and try to rip it off. 

"I really am sorry, Tweek. But I have to do this for _my_ Tweek. If I don't, we can't be happy." He explained gently, like he was trying to calm a scared animal. Effectively, he was. 

"Bullshit." Tweek snapped. "Bull fucking shit. how does forcing me to destroy the city against my will help anyone? It--urk!--doesn't!" He wanted to grabbed at the scabs on his exposed arm. Just something to do with his hands besides balling them into fists, but chose against it. The last thing he wanted was Stupid Craig using that controller on him again. 

Stupid Craig scooted back, giving Tweek his space. He raised his hands, palms up. "Do you want me to explain? I can. I'll tell you everything."

Tweek grunted in the affirmative, but he didn't relax like he knew Stupid Craig hoped he would. He wouldn't dare relax until he knew Stupid Craig was out of the room, the door locked tight. Even then, it wouldn't be a real relax.

"Ok, so," Stupid Craig laced his fingers together, "I have a family."

"No, duh." Tweek muttered. 

Stupid Craig frown deepened, but he continued on speaking as if Tweek hadn't made the jab. 

"My family, I love them. I love them a lot. They made me who I am. I really do love them, really, but," he glanced away, "they don't approve of my life choices. Not anymore." his voice dropped down to a whisper. he took a shaking breath before looking up, meeting Tweek's eyes. If Stupid Craig was looking for pity on Tweek's face, he didn't find any. 

Tweek choked down the last of the pizza as he waited for Stupid Craig to go on. After a moment, Tweek caught on. With a grown, Tweek asked him why.

Finally having been prompted, Stupid Craig said, "Because I'm gay--"

"They disowned you because you're _gay_?" Tweek flinched back. His family reveled when he stutteringly came out. Both his parents were ecstatic--though how much of their excitement was for their son and how much was for them to be able to show off how progressive they were, Tweek wasn't sure.

"...is what I told my Tweek." Stupid Craig finished. "It's a lie. I lied to him. The truth would make him mad."

"What's the real reason? Your family hate him or something?" Tweek asked.

Stupid Craig blushed and glanced away. "Um, yeah. They really really don't like him. They think he's too heartless and that we don't make a good duo." Stupid Craig looked back up at Tweek, a new fire in his eyes. "But they're wrong. Tweek just doesn't show his emotions to anyone but me! He's a sweetheart, and if they just gave him a try, I know they would love him almost as much as I do! But they refuse. Every time I go for a yearly visit, they always rag on me for not breaking up with Tweek!" 

Tweek's mouth hung open for a moment. The shock filled his numbly his limbs.

"I don't...that doesn't make any sense." He ran his hand through his hair. "What does that have to do with me?"

Stupid Craig laced his fingers together then dropped his hands between his thighs. He reminded Tweek of a small child about to admit he stole a pie from the window sill. 

"When I returned from my visit, Tweek and I got into a fight. He said somethings, I said something. He said something worse, and I left. I went out and in my anger made a huge mistake. I went to a bar. Another villain, Mysterion, was there. We got to talking, and, I," Stupid Craig's voice cracked here, "I ended up sleeping with him." Stupid Craig clenched his eyes shut, but a tear still found its way down his cheek.

Tweek's stomach twisted into knots. He could never imagine his Craig going out and cheating on him after a fight. Tweek knew Craig well enough to know if Craig wanted to get him back, the worst he would do would be to break his favorite cup or rip off the labels on the spice jars. Craig would do small things that he knew would drive Tweek up the wall, but going out and cheating wasn't even on the table.

Any pity that Tweek might have felt dried up instantly, only to be replaced with a fresh flood of rage.

"You deserve to be broken up with for that! I hope your Tweek does break up with you! You clearly can't, nnng, be fucking trusted!" Tweek snapped. He kicked his leg out with as much energy as he could manage to try and shove Stupid Craig off the mattress. His foot landed squarely against Stupid Craig's side, but the villain didn't flinch. 

Instead, Stupid Craig made the first Craig like expression Tweek had seen on him. 

Face completely deadpanned, he met Tweek's eyes. "I do, I want him to, and I can't be." He frowned. "Tweek won't break up with me, though. I told him the day it happened, not two hours after I woke up next to Mysterion. I called him and admitted everything I'd done, but Tweek didn't even seem to care." Stupid Craig gritted his teeth a moment. "He just told me 'ok' and said I needed to pick up milk on the way home since we were out."

"H-h-how the fuck can he not be upset with you?" Tweek demanded. "You cheated on him!"

"I know!" Stupid Craig threw his arms up. "I know! But that's the thing: Tweek doesn't get mad about shit! He loves to pretend that nothing bothers him, that he's just an aloof douchebag, but I know his 'doesn't give two fucks' attitude it bullshit. He's mad at me. He has every right to be, but he won't admit it. Instead he'll passive aggressively act like nothing is wrong until all his bottled up emotions pop, and he blows up!" Stupid Craig pulled at his hair. Panic played in his eyes. 

"When it happens, it'll be bad. Weeks and months of anger towards me and what I did will just come out all at once. He might make a storm so big and so strong it wipes all of Colorado off the map! I can't let that happen, please, understand." He turned back towards Tweek. He was shaking just a little. "I can't. If I can just make him mad enough to blow up now, when it's still fresh, it'll all be ok. Even if he breaks up with me over this, at least I know he'll have gotten everything out."

Tweek pulled his leg back then put his knees to his chest. He felt tired again. Years with Craig had severely limited the amount of bullshit he could take at one time. This whole plan of Stupid Craig's was nothing but shit. Thinking back on what Tweek had observed on Stupid Craig, he had a feeling that his plan was made on the fly, one impulsive thought that just got out of hand. 

Stupid Craig was smart, Tweek didn't doubt that. In the span of a few weeks, Stupid Craig had taken over and combined three of the cities gangs into one big security team for himself. He knew exactly which buildings he could get Tweek to and back within the controllers time limit. He knew enough to know much of Tweek's powers relied on the humidity in the air, and made sure the metal crate he kept him in was dry.

Stupid Craig was good at prevention, at avoiding unfortunate outcomes, but execution seemed to be his weak point. 

Tweek turned into the corner. "Go away now. I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

Stupid Craig pursed his lips. He pushed himself up without a word and walked towards the door. He paused a moment, then looked back. 

"I'm sorry. This really is the only way."

"Fuck off."

Just as the door opened, Tweek said, "Cigarettes."

Stupid Craig stopped at the door and looked back. "Excuse me?"

Without looking at him, Tweek explained, "Get me a pack or two of cigarettes and a lighter. Non-Menthol. Don't care about the brand or anything else."

Stupid Craig shuffled at the door. For a moment, Tweek expected him to tell him how bad they were for him, as if Tweek wasn't fully aware, but he didn't. Instead Tweek heard him say he would bring them next time he came by before shutting the door.

With the source of his anxiety temporarily gone, Tweek finally let the smallest bit of tense leave his shoulders. He moved to lie down on his side. He hadn't smoked in nearly three years. The last drag he ever took was right before he and Craig moved into together. With someone as supportive and encouraging as Craig around and the stress of his parents off his shoulders, Tweek was able to start to wean himself off them.

A memory of Craig hacking after making an attempt to take a deep drag came to Tweek's mind. He pulled his wrist close to his heart. The passing feeling of Craig pressing his lips to some of his scars fluttered across his skin. 

He reached off the side of the mattress and pulled the pillow off the floor. Craig's NASA shirt was torn and stained from one of the first night Tweek had been under Stupid Craig's control. Instead of letting it be taken it away, Tweek converted it into a makeshift pillow case. 

Stupid Craig had just given him a sad look before allowing it. 

Tweek felt guilt rise up in his stomach. He couldn't remember clearly what exactly happens when he's being controlled, but he knew something happened with his Craig. Several somethings. Stupid Craig ordered him to quickly break his relationships off with Craig and with Freedom Pals. Tweek didn't remember more than a brief image of Craig's shocked and betrayed face staring back at him and a phone call to Doctor Timothy.

All Tweek knew from the first night of destruction were Fastpass and Captain Diabetes had shown up to stop him, he had beaten them both senseless, Craig showed up at some point and despite Tweek's best efforts was also beaten senseless, then there was a flash of purple, and pain. The next thing Tweek knew, he was back in this large empty room, bandages across his body and Stupid Craig trying to shove some sort of healing agent down his throat.

 

If he shut his eyes, Tweek could imagine Craig sitting back at base, in the medical ward, with Stripe in his lap, listening to Doctor Daniels. If not Doctor Daniels, then Clyde would probably show up to check up on him. Token and Jimmy would show too. Tweek could almost hear the jokes Jimmy would make. They would be horrible, but everyone would laugh regardless. If they stayed late enough, ToolShed would probably have to come in to shoo them all out when he took over for Doctor Daniels.

Then Craig would be alone. Once Stripe fell asleep, Craig would gently put him in his travel cage. Would Craig be able to go to sleep or would he stay up all night worrying? Tweek squeezed the shirt covered pillow tighter to him. 

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Tweek prayed when he woke back up, this would all end up being a bad dream.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I'm pretty 'eh' about this chapter, mostly the order of things more than any individual parts, but I digress.
> 
> Remember this chapter is part of a double update. There will be another posted soon after this one.
> 
> [ My writing Tumblr.](uas-fics.tumblr.com)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the battle begins...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This is the second update today. If you have not read the backstory chapter, I suggest you do so!**

Human Kite and Call Girl looked at Not Tweek with intrigue. Not Tweek just looked annoyed.

"I come here to get one person’s help, and I get the whole team. God, can’t you people do anything alone?" Not Tweek scoffed.

Craig rolled his eyes. "We're not pulling this plan off without some fall back. Fastpass and Human Kite are the quickest people we have. They'll stay on the perimeter, in case he tries to escape out."

"And she's here why?" Not Tweek jabbed his thumb at Call Girl. 

"I'm here," Call Girl cut in, "because Doctor Timothy suggested me. You need more tanks on your side for this."

“We really don't.” Not Tweek's face curled up in disgust. "And that's another thing: why did anyone tell him?"

Craig met Not Tweek's face with a glare. "Because Doctor Timothy is our leader. His decisions never lead us wrong. Now shut up and follow me. We have to all go over the plan." He nodded to Call Girl and Human Kite to follow as well. 

Craig lead the heroes and villain to the rest of the group around the wide table in the Freedom Pal's conference room. Everyone took their seats. Craig slipped into a spot by Mosquito. Laid out in front of them was a detailed diagram of the old Chaos base, complete with the dimensions of the storage units.

Mysterion cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention. He gestured to Tupperware, who stood.

"As you all know, we don't have as much information as we would like, but given the severity of our current situation, we don't have much of a choice." He took a breath. "First, when Wonder Tweek is made to attack the city, it's been decided that ToolShed and Captain Diabetes will protect civilians and attempt to keep Wonder Tweek busy until the battery power on the controller wears out."

Tupperware then gestured to the diagram. "Then we'll have teams set up around the premitator of the storage facility. Mosquito and I at the back, Super Craig and Not--I mean--Super Tweek, at the front, Call Girl and Mysterion on the right and left, respectively. Once we confirm Not Craig and Tweek are in the base, we all head in while Fast and Kite stay outside, monitoring the fenceline just in case Not Craig slips pass us."

Mysterion stood next to Tupperware. "In all likelihood, given the increase in activity there, the place will be crawling with civilians. Remember they aren't the target. Just knock them out quick and keep going. Taking out Not Craig is the goal here."

"What about Wonder Tweek?" Human Kite asked with a frown. 

"If you can get him away from Not Craig and the controller, do it." Mysterion replied. 

Tupperware asked, "Anymore questions?"

When no one answered after a moment, he set his hand on the table, and the rest of the Freedom Pals members followed suit. Not Tweek raised an eyebrow, but kept his arms crossed loosely over his lap.

"Freedom Pals! Retribution with inclusion!" The heroes shouted confidently.

Not Tweek rolled his eyes dramatically and muttered, "Are you fucking kidding me..."

* * *

Tweek feel to his hands and knees, panting. The flickering street lamps and dented trash cans doubled and he had to close his eyes tight. Bile rose in his throat and it was all Tweek could do not to vomit. He hated this part. Stupid Craig made him drain all his energy to cover their escape.

Someone grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet, Stupid Craig, probably. Tweek peeked open his eyes as Stupid Craig forced him through the heavy rain and behind a nearby building. The second he let go, Tweek collapsed again. 

Everything felt heavy, his limbs, his chest, his head. Sleeping for a week suddenly sounded like the best course of action. Of course, that wouldn't happen. No, Stupid Craig would drag him back to that stupid base and let him sleep his fatigue off for the night, then shove some sort of energy supplement down his throat. Before the supplement could take effect, though, he'd use that controller and go terrorize the city.

Rise and repeat the next day.

"I threw ToolShed through a building." Tweek muttered. Guilt gnawed at his stomach. ToolShed was tough. He could take a few hits, but not many. If something horrible happened to ToolShed, Call Girl and Human Kite would personally kill Tweek themselves. 

"I wouldn't call that much of a loose." Stupid Craig shrugged. 

Tweek mustered up as much anger into his glare as he could. "ToolShed is my friend. He's a good hero." 

Stupid Craig shrugged again before reaching for Tweek's arm. Tweek struggled fruitlessly against the hold but was hauled back up. Stupid Craig pulled his hood over his head then pulled the mask off Tweek. He dropped a beat up ball cap on top of Tweek's head.

"Let's go." He gripped Tweek's hand, forcing him to follow along.

Tweek wrinkled his nose. He didn't like this Craig's hand on his. It was too smooth, not caloused as much as his Craig's hand. He held his hand to carelessly too. His Craig liked to lace their fingers together, too. A few times, Tweek could remember him making them stop so he could 'fix' their hands.

Tweek smiled to himself at the memory. Craig was such a huge dork. Tweek missed him.

Soon, they walked up to the old Chaos base. The people Stupid Craig had bullied into playing guard for him jumped to attention when they saw him. As much as each tried to hide it, fear crossed their faces. A few of them visibly shook as Stupid Craig strode by. Tweek had no idea what he did to scare them all so bad, and honestly didn't care to.

Tweek cranked his head up at the recycled shipping containers. He let his eyes run across the top the large metal boxes and to the roofs of the nearby buildings, then he saw him.

Just for a second ghosting from one building top to another, a wisp of dark purple smoke in the moonlight: Mysterion. 

Tweek nearly froze, but caught himself. Instead he looked straight up, using his other hand to brush back the hat off his head. 

Tweek prayed that Mysterion was able to recognize his blond hair under the sickly orange yellow glow of the lights. Mysterion would be the perfect rescue. He would whisk around to the container Tweek was kept, get in, get Tweek out, and no one would be the wiser until morning.

"Hey!" Stupid Craig spun around. He grabbed the hat off the ground and shoved it back onto his head. "I told you you have to keep that on, or people might recognize you."

"Bite me." Tweek rolled his eyes. He really didn't care if the whole world knew who he was. Wonder Tweek and Tweek Tweak were the same person, just one wore a mask. If not for his connection to Craig and the Tucker family, Tweek would have outed himself to the public as a hero a long time ago. The double identity was nothing more than a stresser to him.

Stupid Craig set his jaw before putting a hand on Tweeks arm, leading him back towards the gate.

Tweek turned his head away, more to look around for Mysterion than to be indignant to Stupid Craig.

"Wait a second!" Tweek dug his heels in to the ground. "Let me take a minute to smoke."

Stupid Craig frowned, gesturing towards the entrance. "You can do that in there."

Tweek reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled pack in defiance. He stuck the cigarette between his teeth. He turned to one of the security team and made a gimme motion with his hand. "Lighter. I lost mine during the fight. One of you has to have one." 

"You can smoke when we're not in the street. Come on." Stupid Craig sent a glare out, daring anyone to try and pull out a lighter.

"Wait, no, I-I, err, I want to smoke out here. Clean air and, um..." Tweek trailed off, pulling the cigarette from his mouth. He wished he still had enough strength to send even a weak lighting strike at Stupid Craig, something just flashy enough he could make sure he had Mysterion's attention, but the thought of using more of his powers made him nauseous.

Luckily for him, he didn't need to use his powers. Someone else did that for him.

A crackle of thunder rolled overhead. Using what strength he had left, he tore his arm from Stupid Craig's grip then pushed him forward. Tweek tumbled back just as a bolt of lightning hit where he had been.

"Hey, watch where you're throwing that, dick!" A familiar voice snapped before a figure landed in front of Tweek, leaving a shallow crater in the ground. 

"Craig!" 

Craig, his Craig, looked over his shoulders at Tweek. His angry expression soften. He stooped down, helping Tweek to a sitting position. Tweek tried to stay up, but couldn't summon the energy. He fell forward against Craig's shoulder with a wince. For the first time in nearly two weeks, Tweek released all the tension in his body and his heart beat slowed to a reasonable pace.

"I wasn't aiming at him." A new voice commented.

Tweek mouth went slack as another him landed in front of them. He just have been Stupid Craig's Tweek. 

"Well you weren't not aiming at him." Craig grumbled, wrapping his arms around Tweek's middle.

The other Tweek seemed not to hear Craig, or ignored him, instead turning towards his Craig with his hands on his hips.

He cocked his head to the side. "Are we doing this the hard way or the easy way, honey?"

Stupid Craig scrambled to his feet, glaring. His hair stuck out in multiple directions from the near lightning strike.

"Don't call me that. I don't want anything to do with you anymore." He spat.

"Hard way, got it." The other Tweek shrugged then raised his hand over his head.

Tweek could feel the change in humidity and temperature. Tweek’s mind jumped back to Tupperware's holographic training program. The holographic Tweeks never controlled the weather the same way he did. This was the first time Tweek had truly seen it from the outside and it was amazing. 

Stupid Craig fell into a fighting position, reading himself. 

"Do you really think I can't take two on one?" he smirked. "Well if my little security team is counted, it's more like two on a few hundred."

"You can make this the easy way anytime, babe." The other Tweek replied idly. The water in the air came together and froze into giant floating ice icicles. The other Tweek threw out his hand, sending the icicles flying. 

Stupid Craig dodged with ease to the side. He opened his mouth to make a remark when a figure dove out of the darkness with a flying kick. Mysterion struck the brutalist in the side, sending him flying. He reach out to grab the light post but his hands slipped off and he crashed into a chain link fence. Seeing their 'boss' thrown around like a ragdoll, his security team bolted instantly.

"You should recheck your math." Mysterion growled. "There is a whole team of us--and none of us are happy."

A scowl crossed Stupid Craig's face. Tweek wondered how much of that was for the news he was outnumbered, and how much was because was Mysterion was here.

As Stupid Craig scrambled to his feet, he shouted, "Wow, teaming up with a mess of heroes? You really are something else, Tweek. Something pathetic."

The other Tweek shook his head. "It's not going to work. I'm not going to break up with you. I told you, Craig, I don't care. You made a mistake. Just let it go like the adult you're supposed to be."

"It's you who needs to let me go!" Stupid Craig yelled, ripping the lamp post from the ground and chucked it. The other Tweek ducked under it, rolling back to his feet with practiced ease. The lamppost kept going. Craig gasped, pulling Tweek towards him and bracing himself for the impact, but it never came. 

He looked over his shoulder to see a series of purple tendrils coiled around the lamp post. Mysterion rolled his shoulder as the tendrils dissipated then hopped over the post, skidding next to them.

"Get Tweek out of here." Mysterion ordered. "I have a feeling this lover quarrel is going to get out of hand. He'll be a liability."

Craig nodded then scooped Tweek up. "Come on, honey."

Tweek rested his head against Craig's chest, focusing for a moment on the constant sound of his rapid heartbeat. He shut his eyes, feeling the wind against his face. The shouting of their alternate universe selves faded into the sound of Craig's shoes against the concrete. 

"Craig!" 

A strong gust of wind hit them. Tweek peeked open his eyes to see Human Kite looking worried at him. 

"Nichole's a few blocks down with Doctor Timothy. She can take a look at him. Did you smash the controller?" He held out his arms.

"No, but he's outmatched." Craig squeezed Tweek tighter. "There's too many of us and only one of him. I think all his 'security team' isn't that willing to fight with him."

Human Kite dropped his arms to his sides. "Alright, if you're sure. Come on. Follow--"

"Wait, Craig, you have to go back." Tweek tried to squirm out of Craig's grasp, but Craig held tight.

"Tweek, what are you talking about? I mean, Not Tweek promised me I get one free punch once we capture him and destroy the controller. I'll happily wait." Craig smiled softly, maneuvering his arm so he could stroke his cheek.

"No, no, y-you, nnng, need to set this stupid plan straight." Tweek gritted his teeth. "You have to go tell the other Tweek that he was lied to."

"What?" Craig frowned. "Tweek, we need to get you to a doctor."

"Human Kite can get me there." Tweek took a shuddering breath. "Craig, please, listen to me. If _you_ foil his plan, it'll piss him off--and I have to have that happen, babe. His plan is horrible and the faster it fails the better."

Craig glanced up at Human Kite, who shrugged, then looked back at Tweek. Even though the haze of pain and exhaustion, the determination Craig had learned to love shown through, along with a sharp spite. He took a heavy breath.

"Alright. What do I need to do." 

 

Craig returned to the scene to find Not Tweek and Not Craig gone and his teammates standing around with a large group of terrified men and women.

"What's going on?" Craig asked, hurrying up to Mosquito.

"The Nots are fighting inside right now, and we're trying to get all these people out." He replied with a frown. "Most of them are scared shitless and are trying to contact their families. Sounds like that's what Not Craig was somehow holding over them."

Craig scowled, "He really is a jackass." He squared his shoulders and started into the facility. 

"Where the hell are you going?" Mosquito shouted, reaching out.

"Gotta deliver a message. This might not end well, so get everyone out of here." Craig yelled over his shoulder. As he dashed past the fence, he could heard Mosquito groan at the prospect of moving that many people in the dim evening light.

It took almost no time to find where the battle between Not Tweek and his boyfriend ended up given the periodic flashes of lighting from Not Tweek's attacks. 

The door of one of the units flew at Craig. He crossed his arms in front of himself as the door crashed into him. It slung around him and clattered to the ground. Craig looked up with a glare. Most of the light posts had since exploded from Not Tweek's attacks, so only one large light attached to the top corner of one of the units illuminated the battle. 

Not Tweek wavered as he floated in the air, while Not Craig painted, a hand on his knee. Both of them were covered in cuts and bruises, Not Tweek more so than Not Craig. However, ice caked part of Not Craig's body, so Not Tweek must have gotten a few good hits in.

"Just go home. I'm really done with you." Not Craig snapped. "I shouldn't have dragged this whole relationship out. I'll take fault in that, but you need to let me go and move on."

"Maybe if you weren't bullshitting all of this, I'd consider it." Not Tweek landed, stumbling. "But you are. How long before you believe me that you don't need to punish yourself like this?"

Not Craig glared and flipped Not Tweek off before straightening back up. The ice across his back cracking and falling off in sheets as he did so. Not Tweek swore, throwing out his hand, readying another ice attack.

"Stop for a second!" Craig shouted. He stepped closer to them, hands held palms up. "I have some news about Not Craig's lie from my Tweek."

The color drained from Not Craig's face. He looked pleadingly at Craig. Taking his momentary distraction to his advantage, Not Tweek threw ice at Not Craig's feet. The ice spread across the ground and up his legs to his hips, freezing him in place.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Not Tweek smirked. Staggering, he walked towards where Craig stood. He crossed his arms smuggly. "So, you were saying?"

"Please, don't..." Not Craig begged. 

Craig set his jaw and marched over. He took heavy enough steps to crack the ice and give himself traction. He grabbed not Craig's shirt and glared.

"Give me the controller, and I'll let you own up to everything. Otherwise I'll tell him myself. Which do you think will work out better for you?" Craig hissed into his ear.

Not Craig swallowed hard. He sighed then muttered. "Alright fine." As Craig took a step back, his blond counterpart reached into his pocket and pulled out a hand held device. Craig snatched it from his hand. The controller looked just like an xbox controller, buttons and d-pad included. Craig felt a wave of anger that such a device could look so unthreatening after all the harm it had caused. 

Not Tweek floated over then. He looked over Craig's shoulder.

"That's it alright. Smash that, and your Tweek is completely free." Not Tweek said. Without missing a beat, Craig dropped the controller and stomped down. Pieces of plastic and metal and wires scattered across the icy ground. He ground his foot for added reassurance. 

Not Craig winced before Craig fixed him with a look. He took a few steps back, to the edge of the ice, then nodded. 

"He has something to tell you. It'll piss you off." Craig warned Not Tweek. 

Not Tweek furrowed his brow. "What? You cheat on me again while you were here?" A sharp edge of contempt crept into his voice at the end, but he quickly covered it back up with an added, "Not that it matters."

Not Craig groaned. "Would you stop? It matters! Jesus, Tweek, it matters!"

"It doesn't." Not Tweek rolled his eyes. "Not when I caused it."

Not Craig squirmed, and looked away. "You didn't cause anything." Craig took another step back.

Not Tweek raised an eyebrow. "I didn't? I said your family probably never loved you to begin with and they probably just saw you as a burden, and it's not my fault you wanted to get me back? How does that work exactly?"

Craig himself winced. He couldn't even imagine his Tweek saying something that low to him, no matter how bad the fight. Remembering what he had been told by both Tweeks, Craig chewed his lip. He slipped out his phone from his pocket, readying a text for emergency evacuation to Doctor Timothy. 

"Because, um, because..." Not Craig's face reddened. "Because the I've been...lying." His last word came out as a squeak. A breath, and he continued, "I've been lying to you for a while now ab-about my parents. They don't hate me--least of all because I'm gay. I didn't want you to ever meet them because...they hate you." For a brief moment a look of relief crossed his face and his shoulders relaxed. The moment passed the second he looked up at Not Tweek's face.

Not Tweek's expression was blank. He stared not at Not Craig but just above him, beyond into the darkness. After what felt like hours, Not Tweek took a breath.

"Why?"

"What?" Not Craig asked.

"Why do they hate me? There are worse villains out there than me." His voice remained entirely calm. Craig shuddered, his thumb right above the send button. 

Not Craig shrugged. "They think you're heartless. They say that being around you made me a bad villain and you're not worth it. But," he quickly added, "they don't know you like I do! I know you're a good villain and you care about---" A bolt of lightning struck inches from him, melting the ice. He fell forward to his hands and knees. 

"Heartless?" Not Tweek growled, stomping his foot. the temperature began to drop drastically. "Heartless! So instead of just introducing me to your parents and letting them decide if I'm 'worthy' of you or not, you just made up a lie? A lie you fucking dragged out for the last five years?" 

"It was a rash decision, I see that now," Not Craig tried to stand, but Not Tweek brought his foot down on the back of his head, shoving him against the concerte. 

"A rash decision? No, a rash decision was going to another dimension to fuck around with another me. A rash decision was sleeping with that rich asshole because you were mad at me." Not Tweek ground his foot down. Spears of electrically charged ice began to grow in the air. Black clouds covered the night sky. The wind whipped Craig's bangs across his face. 

From his viewpoint, he could see Not Craig's face. A small smile played across his lips. Craig pursed his own. Tweek's words echoed in his head. _"He wants his Tweek to get mad now, so he doesn't do it later."_

Craig sent the text.

"This..." Not Tweek's voice began to shake, "This was a back-handed, vile deceit, Craig Tucker!" His voice rose to a shout. "You lied to me! I stuck by your side since you were the most pathetic brutalist around!"

His hands curled into fists as balls of hail began to fall. "Who helped patch you up when Captain Diabetes beat your ass up? Me! Who held your goddamn hand when you came out to the public? Me! Who dropped everything and went to fucking Peru with you because your rat told you to? Me! How fucking could you do all this to me?" 

Deafening thunder roared. The wind nearly knocked Craig off his feet. Balls of hail the size of quartners and growing pelted the ground. He fell to one knee, holding his arms up as bits of debris hit around him. 

Not Craig remained silent. Not Tweek's whole frame shook. A spear of ice began to grow right over the top of Not Craig's stomach. Lightning struck all around. Craig tensed, ready to spring up and tackle Not Tweek. He might have hated his doppelganger for everything that happened, but as a hero he couldn't just let him be killed.

"You...you...." Not Tweek's voice quivered. "You asshole." 

Not Tweek suddenly stepped back and fell to his knees. The ice spear melted away, drenching Not Craig. The hail puttered out and rain soon replaced it. Thunder still boomed above, but lightning no longer struck the ground, instead only dancing in the clouds. 

"I gave up a normal life to stay with you. I stood by you when everyone laughed at how weak you were. I...I-" His voice cracked. "Fuck. I love you, but it hurts, you dick! What you did hurt me!"

Not Craig clammered to his knees. Half of his face was bloodied and bruised, his eye swollen. His jacket was toren and a gashes of exposed flesh poked out from his side. With shaking hands, he reached up to cup his face, but Not Tweek slapped his hands down. Not Craig dropped his hands and looked away. 

"Don't." Not Tweek snapped. "Just don't. I'm pissed."

"Good." Craig stood. He stumbled a little, but quickly regained his balance. "That's what he wanted." 

"What?" Not Tweek looked between them. "What does he mean?"

Not Craig took a shaking breath. "I needed you to get mad. You bottle shit in, babe. I just...it's better to do it now." 

"Oh God, Craig." Not Tweek buried his face in his hands. "That's why you pulled this stunt?" A nod. "Dammit! You could have talked to me!"

"You wouldn't listen! You never listen when I try to bring up feelings!" Not Craig groaned. "You just want to brush every bad thing under the rug and pretend it didn't happen!"

Not Tweek rubbed the tears from his cheeks. "You can't change the past, so what's the point of dwelling?"

Craig winced. So, this was how Tweek use to feel dealing with him. He silently thanked his lucky stars that his Tweek was able to stand him at all. He took a breath and squared his shoulders. 

"You can't change it, but you can at least acknowledge it!" Craig shook his head. He really couldn't believe he was the one going to be saying this. "Clearly he doesn't want to just brush this aside. Yes, it's going to be hard, and, yes, this is going to hurt, and maybe your relationship wouldn't be able to make it, but it's better than just sitting around and letting your love burn away because you refuse to acknowledge the fire!"

Not Tweek cringed and looked away with his lips pressed into a thin line. After a moment, he shut his eyes and exhaled. 

"This plan was horrible, and this dimension is the worst." He opened his eyes with a soft smile on his lips. "Seriously, babe, these heroes called like their whole team to stop you when it could have been done with maybe four people--probably less. And the whole time I was there, it felt like I was listening to one friendship speech after another. 'We need backup for this!' 'We can't do it alone!' 'Tweek is our friend--We'll die for him!' God, it was horrible!"

Not Craig made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a snort. He winced, holding his face. Not Tweek raised his hand to cup Not Craig's cheek. The rain over the two simmered with healing energy. The rain cleaned the blood and grit from his face and the bruises began to fade. He leaned into Not Tweek's touch and smiled contently.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I didn't want you to be disappointed if my parents decided they still didn't like you." He mumbled.

"That's silly. They'll love me. I make you happy don't I?" 

"Yeah." Not Craig chuckled then sighed. "I'm so sorry for cheating. I was upset, and Mysterion got into my head that I deserved better," he shook his head, "but there's no one better for me than you." 

Not Tweek's lips formed a quivering grin. He rested his forehead against Not Craig's. 

"It'll take me awhile to trust you again." He admitted, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. "I might not ever trust you like I did before, but I want to try to fix everything. I promise I won't hold everything in anymore--or I'll try not to--if you promise no more big secrets."

Not Craig wrapped his arms around Not Tweek's shoulders and nugged forward to press the tips of their noses together. "I promise." 

As the rain began to stop, the villains moved closer. Not Tweek dropped his hands down before coiling his arms around Not Craig's waist and pulled him into a tight hug. A natural wind blew the sky clear of over cast, bathing the night in silvery light. 

Craig smiled to himself. He let his stance relax before shoving his hands in his pockets and staring up at the starry sky. He picked out a few constellations, running between the stars with his eyes, until he heard the crunching of gravel. The villains stood, hand laced together. Not Tweek wiped the last of his tears away with the heel of his hand. 

"So, what's the plan here, Hero Boy?" Not Tweek asked. "You plan on arresting him?"

Craig frowned at the nickname, but let it slide. He shrugged. "I should. Someone has to pay for the damage to the city, and I think Tweek probably wants to take a swing at you both, but that would be a fuck ton of paperwork, and my plans for the next month involve keeping Tweek calm and relaxed, so I'm going to turn around," he spun on his heels, "and I'm going to walk away. I don't want to ever see either of you in my dimension ever again."

Not Tweek chortled. "We'll take that deal." He rested his head on Not Craig's shoulder. "Come on, hon. I left my dimensional gun at Friendship HQ, let's get yours and get out of here. There is a certain immortal billionaire whose house I have the sudden urge to ransack." 

Craig listened to the sound of their fading footsteps and sighed in relief. 

Finally, it was over.

* * *

Doctor Daniels eyed the rodent in Craig's arms before heaving a sigh and stepping aside. 

"Go on in." She waved him by. "Just pick up anything Stripe leaves behind."

Craig nodded before hustling past her. she rolled her eyes and shook her head. A smile still played on her lips, though, as she shut the door to give the couple some privacy. The moment Tweek looked up from the tablet he'd been fiddling with to Craig, his face lit up. 

Craig wasted no time in snatching the tablet from Tweek's lap and replacing it with Stripe. The guinea pig squeaked in delight, pressing against Tweek's hand. 

"Stripe!" Tweek exclaimed, carefully picking him up. "I missed you!" He pressed their noses together.

Craig sat on the stool beside the bed and propt his arms up on the railing. "He missed you too. He was so excited when he heard you were back. He did a little dance and knocked over his food dish." 

Tweek laughed, holding Stripe close to his chest. Craig watched his boyfriend snuggle his pet with a lazy smile. Absentmindedly, he reached up his hand and brushed his fingertips across the back of one of Tweek's hands. Tweek jumped at the contact.

"Sorry." Craig apologized, but didn't drop his hand. Instead he grabbed the one petting Stripe and pulled it down before knitting their fingers together. He nodded at their hands. All fixed.

"So, how are you feeling?" Craig asked after a moment. 

"Tire as fuck, dude." Tweek admitted. "My whole body aches and the back of my neck itches from that dart." He rolled his shoulders to emphasize his point. "But I'm glad to be back."

Rubbing his thumb again Tweek’s hand, Craig sighed. "Tweek, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Tweek squeezed his hand. "That asshole wasn't you."

"No, but if I had tried harder to talk to you after we 'broke up' then maybe we could have found you faster and--"

Tweek lifted both their hands and pressed the back of his to Craig's mouth. He smiled softly and let Stripe slide down his stomach to his lap before reaching over and cupping Craig's cheek. "Craig, it's fine. I forgive you, even if there is nothing to forgive."

Craig stared at him for a long moment before looking to the side. He turn and pressed a kiss to Tweek's wrists. 

"I brought you some other gifts too." He pulled back and began to search his jacket pockets. "Here. This is from Clyde, Jimmy, and Token." He held out a folded piece of paper. 

Tweek took it and unfolded the paper to find a crude drawing of what he assumed was himself surrounded by his teammates. It read 'Get Better Soon, Tweek! Nichole wouldn't let us bring you the cake we made, so we owe you one!' with all three's signatures scribbled on the bottom. 

Tweek chuckled and folded the paper back up. "She wouldn't let them bring a cake in?"

"Yup. Something about making sure your levels of something where in the right places before letting you eat a bunch of sweets." Craig shrugged before pressing something into his hand. "But I snuck this in anyway."

Tweek looked down at the twin Hershey's Kisses in his palm. The paper sticking out of them had been tied together in a knot.

"In case I couldn't see you for some reason, but still wanted to give you a kiss." He winked.

Tweek shook his head with laughter. "Shit, what are you? Ten?"

Craig gave a toothy sideways smile before triumphantly retrieving a small box from his pocket: glow in the dark space themed band aids. He flipped open the box and took out one of the bandaids. He tried to open it with one hand, but failed. Amused, Tweek set the candy beside him before helping open the bandaid. 

Once it was open, Craig clumsily peeled the backing off and pressed it over the gauze on Tweek's arm. Tweek twisted his arm around, eyes tracing the stars and planets.

"It's nice, but why?" Tweek asked. 

Craig shrugged. "Romance?" Tweek raised an eyebrow and he continued, "I was going to put them on the marks on your arms and hands, since I thought it'd make you smile, but I guess the doctor got to them first." He nodded to the wrappings.

Tweek frowned, unconsciously pulling at the dressing on his wrists. "You saw those? S-shit. I, uh...Didn't mean to worry you."

Craig shook his head. "I don't like seeing you hurt yourself like that. I--"

Tweek tore his hand away from Craig's, holding it to his chest, fixing Craig with a glare that sent a shiver down his spine. The two stayed silent motionless for a few moments before Craig hesitantly reached out his hand, hovering close but not touching.

"Honey?" He asked cautiously.

Tweek blinked and looked down at his hands then back up at Craig. He winced, dropping his hands onto Stripe.

"S-sorry. I, you, him..." He trailed off, not meeting Craig's eyes.

Craig set his hand on Tweek's thigh and squeezed gently. He pursed his lips, not quite trusting himself to speak. He didn't know what Not Craig did, and he wasn't sure how much he trusted Not Tweek's assurances that he wouldn't hurt Tweek that much. Craig wanted to ask, to find out, to help, but now wasn't the time.

Instead, he stood. The stool scraped the tiles, filling the silence. Craig gently pressed his forehead to Tweek's, meeting his eyes. Tweek scanned his face, as if trying to recommit him to memory, then leaned forward, pressing their lips together.

When he pulled away, Craig had to bite back a whimper. It wasn't until then he really realize how much he'd missed his boyfriend's kisses. Craig ran his tongue over his lips, enjoying the electric feeling more than ever. 

"I think I'll need to take a long break from being a hero." Tweek admitted quietly. "Just be a normal citizen for a while."

Running his hands down to Tweek's shoulders, Craig asked, "Mind if I join you?"

"Are you going to turn the house into Stripe's personal paradise?" Tweek chortled, resting his hands on Craig's arms.

Craig smirked. "Not all of it. I'll leave the bathroom as a Stripe free zone."

"The bathroom isn't a Stripe free zone _now_!" 

Tweek's wide grin made Craig's heart skip a beat. without another word, he pulled Tweek into a tight hug. Tweek relaxed into his embrace and slipped the arm without the IV around Craig. 

Craig mumbled into Tweek's hair. "I love you. I love you sooo much."

Tweek pressed a kiss against his jawline. "I love you, too." They stayed in each others arms for what seemed like years, enjoying the contact and the feeling of the other until Stripe squeaked at them. The sudden movement of the hug rolled him off Tweek's lap. He had begun to nibble at the paper of the hershey kisses.

Craig jumped back, snagging the pig away. "Stripe, you know better!" He reprimanded with a sigh. "You'd better eat those before Doctor Daniels shows back up and takes them."

Tweek picked up the chocolates and the makeshift card. His eyes lit up. "I have an idea."

When Doctor Daniels returned an hour later, she walked into to find both heroes squeezed onto the bed, Tweek in Craig's lap, with band aids covering both their arms and faces. Tweek was adjusting a small hat made of folded paper and foil onto Stripe's head. They looked up from their project at her and she just shook her head and left them them be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter, and this fic is all wrapped up! It'll be posted on Thursday. :)
> 
> [ My writing Tumblr.](uas-fics.tumblr.com)   
> [ My general art Tumblr.](uas-art.tumblr.com)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things come to an end.

ToolShed looked at the bits of circuitry, wires, and plastic, then he looked up at Tweek and Craig

"Let me get this straight," he started, "Wonder Craig not only steals one of my rifles, Super Tweek leaves one in another dimension with a bunch of _superheroes_. Not to mention, you let one of my remaining Control Guns get shattered." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "The fuck, dudes?"

Tweek shrugged. "If I had gone back to get the rifle, Craig would have been arrested and possibly strangled by an alternate version of me. Those aren't risks I'm willing to take."

Craig smiled sheepishly. "I'm really sorry, 'Shed. Things got...out of hand." 

Tweek held back a smart remark and instead leaned against Craig's side. He was warm, and Tweek had forgotten just how much he'd missed that during their time apart.

ToolShed heaved a sigh. He walked around his work table before leaning back against it. "I should make you guys pay me for what you broke or lost. Just the rifle alone is a few weeks of work, that being said..." a wicked smirk crossed his face, "seeing Mysterion throw a temper tantrum this morning when he found out his home was encased in four feet of ice made my day, so I'll let the rifle slide."

"Will you let the control gun slide too, if I tell you that the ice is the only thing holding up most of the house?" Craig offered. 

Tweek nodded. "Craig took out the support beams and walls when we fucked up the place and I replaced them with ice columns. They melt, the house goes down."

ToolShed's shoulders shook with vengeful amusement. "Holy shit. Kenny's going to have an aneurysm when he finds out." He shook his head. "Good. He needs to be knocked down a few pegs. Asshole."

"So, we're square?" Tweek asked. 

"Sure, why not." ToolShed shrugged. "Just know next time you steal my shit to go off dimension hopping, _I'll_ be the one coming to get your ass, and I have no problems abandoning you."

Tweek rolled his eyes. He grabbed Craig's hand and began to head towards the door. "Believe me, we won't be going to any alternate dimensions any time soon. Right, honey?"

"Right." Craig nodded. Over his shoulder he called, "See you around, 'Shed."

"Hopefully not." Toolshed replied, slamming the door behind them.

Tweek rolled his eyes again. "He's just jealous _we_ were able to makeup, but Call Girl and he _weren't_."

"Probably." Craig agreed. He squeezed his boyfriend's hand before they started down the hall. Tweek looked up at Craig from the corner of his eye. They still weren't back where they had been before their fight, not even close, but they were both trying at least. As long as they both tried, everything would work itself out--or that's what Tweek hoped, anyway.

"So," Craig swung their connected hands as they reached the elevator, "are you ready?"

"Of course," Super Tweek replied coolly. His stomach twisted into a knot at his lie, and he quickly corrected, "Actually, Craig, no. I'm nervous."

The elevator door opened with a ding. The music that poured out had always annoyed Tweek. He'd asked on multiple occasions to have it changed to something that didn't sound like stock elevator music, but his request was always declined.

As they stepped in, Craig asked with a laugh, "What? Why? My parents aren't scary. Promise."

"The picture you showed me of your dad says otherwise. He's a freaking giant, Craig!" Tweek frowned as he pressed the ground floor button. In his mind's eye, he recalled Craig pulling out a recent picture he had of his parents. Tweek then suddenly understood exactly where his boyfriend got his giraffe legs--and his nose, strong shoulders, the way the left side of his mouth went up farther than the right when he smiled.

"He's not that tall," Craig pulled his hand free from Tweek's and slipped it around his shoulders. "I'm taller than he is."

"You are also a giant, honey." Tweek pressed his shoulder against Craig, watching the lights change from floor to floor. "But I can hit you with a lightning bolt. I can't do that with your parents if they try to kill me in my sleep."

Though his last comment was only half a joke, Tweek cracked a smile anyway. Craig's eyes twinkled before he burst out laughing. The laughter was so loud it drown out the annoying music, which was something Tweek was alright with.

When he stopped laughing, he pulled Tweek tighter against himself. "I guess I'll just have to protect you while you sleep, huh? Not that you're the one they'll try to kill. That'll be me for showing up unannounced for Sunday dinner with a guest, after all."

Instead of answering, Tweek wrapped his own arm around Craig's waist with a chuckle.

As the elevator came to a stop, Tweek started to walk out, but Craig tighten his grip around him. Tweek looked up at him, eyebrow arched. Craig pursed his lips. He took a deep breath.

"Tweek? I know I said this before, but, um, thank you." He smiled softly. "For taking me back. You didn't have to. I didn't think you would, but you still did. After all that bullshit I put everyone through, you still did."

Tweek sighed exasperatedly. "Craig, don't be stupid. I didn't 'take you back'." He put his hands on either side of Craig's face and pulled him down to place a kiss on his lips. "I never let you go in the first place."

Craig scooped him up into a hug, burying his nose in his hair. He was crushing Tweek a bit, but Tweek let it slide, instead wrapping his arms around his neck. As the two stood, embracing each other, the elevator door began to shut. Swearing to himself, Craig shoved his foot out, halting the automatic door. The door slid back open. Craig took a step away, but quickly grabbed Tweek's hand to maintain contact between them. 

"Come on, Tweek, let's go." He grinned reassuringly. 

Tweek nodded and followed along down the hall. As they passed the glass wall of an empty training room, Tweek paused a moment, staring at his reflection. Craig looked back over his shoulder at him.

"Tweek? Everything alright?" He examined Tweek, then the reflection. Craig frowned and repeated, "Tweek?"

Tweek tilted his head to the side at his reflection. He shut his eyes then let out a slow breath. "No, I'm fine. We're fine. I just wonder if the other us is fine, too."

"Oh." Craig stared into the glass, at the Tweek and the Craig in the mirror. After a moment, he took a step behind Tweek and put his arms around Tweek's shoulders. He rested his head on top of Tweek's.

"That Tweek, he was a fighter, just like you. I'm sure he's fine."

Tweek hummed and leaned backwards, putting most of his weight against his boyfriend. Craig didn't seem to notice at all. 

"You're probably right. Hero Craig really loves his Tweek, so if anything is wrong, he's there to help." Tweek pushed himself away from Craig. He spun around, then grabbed Craig's hand. A smile spread across his lips. "But, not as much I love you. Come'on, Craig. I want to get there early enough to butter up your parents."

* * *

The smell of something sweet, and warm greeted Craig when he woke up. He sat up on the couch and stretched. He scratched at his stomach then glanced at his phone. One o'clock. Only two and a half weeks off from being a hero and he was already sleeping away most of the day. 

Craig was fine with that. 

He pushed himself up and wandered to the kitchen. Tweek sat at the table, reading over something on his tablet. Craig went over to wrap his arms around Tweek's shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head. 

"Whatcha reading?" 

"Oh, um," Tweek made a move to exit out of the article, but stopped himself. "News reports, on the rebuilding effort."

"Oh."

Craig frowned into Tweek's hair. He hated knowing Tweek still felt guilty for what happened to the city. None of it was his fault, and no one had actually _died_. Tweek didn't deserve to feel any guilt over this, but, of course, he felt like he did.

Craig had tried his best to help Tweek keep his mind off it, but he knew he couldn't keep Tweek away from it forever.

Craig licked his lips then said, "They'll probably need some volunteers to help move everything in when the buildings are done. You'll be healed up enough by then. We could go help out."

Tweek opened his mouth, as if to object, but shut it. He closed the article. 

"Yeah, I think I'd like that."

Before Craig could reply, the oven dinged. Tweek tried to move to get it, but Craig beat him to it. He flipped off the oven and went to put on the oven mitt before taking the sheet of cookies out. He set it on the countertop.

"They're too hot. Don't try it." Tweek commented as Craig's hand hovered over one of them. Craig rolled his eyes and tossed the mitt aside and went back over to the Tweek. He propped his arm on the table, looking at Tweek with a smirk.

"If I can't have any sugar from the oven, then how about some from you?" He winked, and Tweek snorted a laugh.

"That was horrible." He said, but kissed Craig anyway.

"I was going to joke about you being a stud muffin, but you made cookies soooo..."

At that, Tweek gently punched his arm. Craig just laughed, taking the seat next to Tweek. He spun the tablet towards himself and logged in to his twitter, scrolling through the feed. He paused at a tweet from the Freedom Pals Official twitter linking to an article about the reconstruction of the community theatre. That must have been were Tweek found the article he was reading. 

Craig's finger hovered over the comment icon, curious to see what people were saying, but instead kept scrolling. Once Doctor Timmothy made a public announcement that Tweek's actions weren't of his own volition and vaguely explained the situation, there had been an outcry of support for Wonder Tweek.

A majority of the comments Craig remembered reading all stated they knew Wonder Tweek couldn't go evil and they wished him and Super Craig the best. Though most of the comments were positive, plenty of negative ones were still posted: Somewhere anti-superhero in nature, somewhere homophobic, somewhere just from people who didn't care for all the rain that flooded the city.

Craig pushed the negativity from his mind, scrolling through the pictures and tweets from his family and friends. Tweek rested his head on Craig's shoulder, lazily watching him. Craig paused at a picture of his dad crouching in front of an open cabinet, bits of piping and wrenches scattered around. The caption from his mom said '@ThomasT a wonderful husband and father--not a good plummer'. 

Craig chuckled, pressing to comment, when Tweek asked, "How do you think they're doing?"

"My parents?" Craig raised an eyebrow. "I talked to them on the phone last week. They're fine. I think we should visit them, though. They wanted to see you."

Tweek shook his head. "No--I mean, yes, we should visit them--but I don't mean them. I mean the...the other us. How do you think they are?"

Craig bit his lip. "I don't know. I told you they looked like they were willing to work things out. I hope they do--just so I never have to see them again."

"Yeah, me too." Tweek hummed, shutting his eyes. He scooted his chair closer so he wouldn't have to lean as far. Craig looped his arm around Tweek's shoulders. 

Even taking a break from hero work, it was going to take a while for things to get back to normal, though Craig had a feeling nothing will ever be exactly the same, but that was alright. As long as he had his partner by his side, everything would be alright in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end! Finally, I finished something more than a oneshot! =D It was a bit out of my comfort zone, more action and less slice of life, but I don't mind how this turned out.
> 
> A big thank you to everyone who followed along these last few weeks and a shout out to the awesome staff at the WIPBigBang for putting this all together. I probably wouldn't have finished this other wise. 
> 
>  [My writing tumblr](http://uas-fics.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> [ My writing Tumblr.](http://uas-fics.tumblr.com)   
>  [ My general art Tumblr](http://uas-art.tumblr.com)   
> 


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